The King's Quest
by Facade15
Summary: AU- In a world of magic made up of six Planes, a Princess sets out on a quest to collect items from each with the help of the Captain of the Guard, Kuwabara. But even these two won't be able to overcome all the dangers on their path alone: they will need the aid of many extraordinary people, including a mysterious Spirit Mage. And in the shadows, a terrible threat lurks...No slash.
1. Water Plane - Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of it's characters.**

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Keiko pulled the light brown clock around her shoulders and clasped it at her neck. Then, after glancing around furtively, she made her way down the candlelit corridor, leather boots almost silent on the stone floor. She darted past the door to the servant's quarters, aware that some may still be awake, even at this late hour of the night, and moved on. Hallways that she knew like the back of her hand passed before her eyes, and before she knew it, she was pausing in front of the great gates to the Palace. She took a deep breath, because she still couldn't quite believe she was really doing this, and eased it open. It creaked, but that was to be expected. She had planned her escape so that no one would be around to hear it. Everything was going perfectly - until she slipped out into the fresh night air, only to run into something big and unmoving. With a small _oof_ , she fell back and landed rather painfully on her backside. A voice she recognized only too well spoke up.

"Princess? Princess, is that you?"

She sighed. "Yes, Captain."

He gasped, and reached down to help her up. Of course, because of his size and strength he was able to do so by grasping her shoulders and bodily lifting her up, placing her back on her feet. "I'm sorry, Princess, I didn't see you there."

"That's fine. And how many times have I told you to call me Keiko?" She reprimanded gently. He lost his guilty expression, and replaced it with a smile.

"Sorry Princess, not gonna happen. Feel free to call me Kuwabara though." Then he frowned, as he took in her outfit, and presence here in the middle of the night.

"Uh, Princess, what are you doing here? And why are you dressed like that? Are you..." He trailed off, and his expression became one of horror and dread. "What are you planning, miss? And whatever you're planning, please don't do it!"

Keiko winced, but tried to save the situation. "I'm not planning anything, Kuwabara. I just needed some fresh air. What are you doing out here so late? Your shift finished hours ago."

He levelled a glare at her. "One of my men was injured on patrol, and I was checking on him and his family. As Captain of the Guard, that is part of my job." Keiko had to smile at that, because it wasn't his job, not really, but he did it anyway. "And don't think you've changed the subject, because you haven't. If you were just out for air, you'd be wearing royal robes. This," he gestured at her, "is sneaking out clothes. And not just for a walk either." She shifted, and his glare softened.

"Come on Princess, how long have you known me?"

She met his gaze, held it, before sighing and giving up. "Fine, you win. You know my dad's decree on my wedding?"

His brows drew together as he thought. "Yeah. Something about how only the best for you, and whoever wants to marry you has to earn your hand by collecting a bunch of stuff, right?"

She scowled. "A collection of items from all six Planes: Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Ice, and Spirit, yes. Because my father is an over-controlling, overprotective jerk sometimes."

Kuwabara squirmed uncomfortably. "The King only wants what's best for you." He said, before cringing under Keiko's furious glare.

"I want to marry whatever man I choose to, and it won't be some muscle-bound idiot who manages to pick up all these things. So I thought, if I got all the items, then I'd win my own hand, as it were, and could then give it to whomsoever I wish."

Kuwabara gaped. "Princess, that's not how it works at all! Besides, your father chose the things he did because they're dangerous to find! You could die! Does a Portal to the Ice Plane even exist? It's a lost cause!"

Keiko stood her ground stubbornly. "I don't care. It's worth it if I could gain some control over my life. My brother will take over the kingdom, my only purpose is to be married off. I understand that. But I'd like to have some input in who I'm shipped off to. This is the only way."

Kuwabara shook his head. "Princess, even though you're royalty I still consider us friends. And as your friend, I'm not going to let you run off on a suicide mission that most likely won't work anyway!" He said, voice raising. Keiko gasped.

"It will work because it has to work and you can't stop me because I'm ordering you not to!" She shouted. "As Princess, you are subordinate to me!"

"Sure, throw rank in my face, real mature! And by the way, though I do answer to you, your father is a higher authority and I think he would rather I stop you here!"

Keiko glared furiously, before subsiding. "I can't do it, Kuwabara. I can't sit in a castle waiting for a prince to show up with offerings in exchange for my hand. I can't live like that." She turned pleading eyes on the Captain of the Guard. "Please tell me you understand."

He wavered, before dropping his head into his hand and saying in a small voice, "Shizuru's going to kill me."

Keiko blinked. "Your sister? What for?"

"For this. Princess, I see where you're coming from. But, I'm not about to let you get yourself killed."

Keiko frowned. "What are you going to do?"

Kuwabara drew himself up. "The only thing I can! I, the great and manly Captain Kuwabara, will accompany you on your quest!" He announced proudly.

Keiko blinked. "Kuwabara, I can't let you-"

"It's that or I sound the alarm. This is as good as you're getting, Princess." Kuwabara told her, but his eyes were twinkling.

Keiko hesitated, then sighed. "Fine then. You're right though. Shizuru is going to be very cross." She laughed a little, feeling the tension between them evaporate. "You'd think as my handmaiden, she'd be quiet and subordinate. But she's really quite outspoken and bossy."

"And that's to you, and you're her boss. Imagine being her little brother." Kuwabara groused, but there was no real harshness behind it. Keiko giggled.

"Guess we'd better leave before she catches on, right?"

Kuwabara grinned his goofy grin back at her. "Well, you've had time to get ready. I still need to get things in order."

"Like who'll be doing what while we're away?" She asked. Kuwabara blinked.

"Well, that too I guess, but I was really thinking about who would be taking care of Eikichi."

There was a moment of silence, before they both broke out into muffled laughter. Kuwabara shooed Keiko towards the stables, with instructions to prepare two horses. Then he sped off to sort out his work, gather supplies and give his cat to one of his more trustworthy men.

In barely an hour, they were riding out of the castle grounds.

"So Princess, remind me what the items you're looking for are?" Kuwabara asked.

"Well, from our Plane we need a mermaid's scale. I figured we'd get that first. Then I thought the Air Plane for the feather of the Icarus bird." She glanced at her companion a little guiltily. "To be honest, that's as far as I've planned. I'll still need lava from Mount Pyrrah, an ice crystal, a sunburst flower, and the, uh, the hair of a demon lord. It's not going to be easy."

He gaped at her, doing a remarkable impression of a fish, before laughing loudly. "Well, it's a place to start. So, where do we find mermaids then?"

Keiko grinned. "I heard rumours of some being spotted out by Trition rock. We should go there first."

And so the pair set off, neither fully prepared but both optimistic about an adventure caused by what could safely be called a dubious decision.

They made it to Trition Rock after three days riding. Keiko had never has so much fun in her life: the Plane her father's kingdom was located on, the Water Plane, was peaceful, the land made rich by the abundance of water. It was also very beautiful. You could not look at a landscape and not see some form of water: a river, or a lake. It rained a lot, but the sun shone through and the air stayed warm. To Keiko, who loved her father's land and her home, the drops looked more like crystals falling from the heavens than rain. Her life in the castle had been restrictive, but that was to be expected for someone of her status and she didn't really mind. It was nice, though, to be able to act freely with Kuwabara, who she considered one of her oldest friends.

All too soon, however, they reached their first challenge: Trition Rock. It was a massive boulder surrounded by overgrown plants and marsh. Behind it was a beautiful lake, but not many people went to see it because of its inaccessibility and the fact that in order to get to it, you had to climb through the swamp, over the rock, and then find a way down on the other side.

It was quite hard.

The swamp was unpleasant enough. Their feet got sucked in and were hard to pull free with every step, the humid air was stuffy and uncomfortable, and worst of all, there were insects that plagued them as they walked. They were both thrilled, after a day's hard trudging, to make it to the base of Trition Rock. Then came the hard ascent. Sometimes the climb was vertical, and Kuwabara had to ensure the princess didn't fall. After one near miss, Keiko realised how truly lucky he was that the captain had come. If not, this would have been impossible. She tried not to feel too resentful about that.

When they finally reached the top, Keiko's breath was stolen away. Her land's beauty always amazed her, but this was something else. The lake was huge, and the blue water glittered as the sun's last rays shone down on it. A light, white mist swirled above the surface, an ephemeral touch to an already magnificent scene. The water itself, glowing a slightly unnatural colour, sometimes blue, sometimes green, was perfectly still, like a mirror.

If there were going to be mermaids anywhere, this was it.

A whoop by her side startled her out of her musing.

"We did it princess! Whoohoo!" Kuwabara yelled, raising his arms in a sign of victory.

"Not yet, I'm afraid." Keiko laughed, but his cheer was infectious. It died down slightly, when they realised that in order to get down, they would need to find a way down an almost sheer face of rock.

"Hm... It looks like there are a few ledges if we go down over there..."

Kuwabara silently asked if she wanted to turn back, and go home where it was _safe_ , but she was stubborn at heart, and not a little brave, so she shook her head fiercely and moved to the edge. Besides, they had already chucked their supplies down, reasoning that there was nothing that could get broken, and they didn't want to carry it. Kuwabara went first, sliding over without hesitation. Keiko smiled slightly. Youngest ever Captain of the Guard indeed. It was a title he had justly earned.

The descent was far more perilous than the way up – Keiko was sure she was going to break her neck at least twice. Sometimes, they had to slide down the rock and catch themselves at the last minute, or balance on an impossibly thin ledge, backs pressed desperately to the boulder. It was starting to dawn on her that her quest was truly a dangerous one, and this wasn't even really the hard part.

The descent was arduous and felt infinitely long to Keiko. Kuwabara was a hero, always there to help her along or give her a hand. They sometimes had to shuffle along a ledge to get to a better place to go down, and soon Keiko' legs, hands and feet hurt. But she didn't stop, mostly because who on earth would want to stop on a cliff face?

At about ten meters from the ground, the inevitable finally happened. Keiko's foot slipped, as she felt her body move after it. Her gasp was enough to alert Kuwabara, but he was just too slow to catch her. Instead, he did the only other thing he could do. He dove after her.

Keiko felt the air whoosh past her. Something hard hit her. Held on to her. And then they landed.

It was jarring. For a moment Keiko just lay there, eyes squeezed shut. It had hurt. Funny that, she thought to herself with an ironic laugh. But then she realised that it should have hurt a lot more, and her mind caught up with events.

"Kuwabara!" She gasped, levering herself up with some difficulty and turning round. He was on the ground beneath her. Though his eyes were closed, he spoke.

"Ow." He said gruffly. Heart-rate slowing again, Keiko dared to laugh.

"Are you okay?" She asked, real concern shining through her voice. Kuwabara must have heard it, because with some reluctance he sat up.

"Of course I'm alright, princess. The mighty Kuwabara will not be taken out by so puny a fall." He said with a pained grin. Relieved, Keiko returned it.

"Thank you." She murmured quietly. Kuwabara just smiled. Then smiled wider. "Oh look, our stuff."

Then they both turned to the lake.

"We actually got here." Keiko whispered. She got to her feet, and walked determinedly towards the water. When she got there, she kneeled.

"Excuse me!" She called. "Is anyone there? I'm looking for a mermaid? Please, this won't take long!"

Silence.

"If anyone's there, could you please come out! Anybody! Hello?"

With a sigh, she got up, and took a few steps into the water, albeit hesitantly. Her people knew that to share water with a mermaid was dangerous indeed. But, since mermaids were rarely seen, Keiko theorised that it may be the only way to get one's attention.

She stopped when the beautiful water reached her knees. "Please, I want to talk to one of you! Could you come out?"

Kuwabara grit his teeth. These mermaid people were getting on his last nerve. He had had a trying day, after all.

"Hey!" He yelled, as he strode into the water after Keiko, splashing water everywhere as he did, disturbing the unnatural calm of the lake. "What's wrong with you people? Get out here!" He drew his sword and slashed at the surface furiously.

"Kuwabara, don't-"

Suddenly, something wrapped itself around his ankle with a vise-like grip. He gasped, but it tugged and before he could do anything, he was falling. A shriek behind him told him he had made a big mistake.

Keiko knew, with alarming clarity, that things weren't going well. Her plan (being polite) was getting them nowhere. She could see that. But Kuwabara's plan was plain suicidal. Before she could tell him that, the water rippled slightly and then she was being dragged under.

She struggled desperately to reach the surface, but the thing holding her wouldn't let her. She chanced a look at it, and froze.

It was beautiful, in the most terrifying way. Long, silvery hair fluttered in the water, twisting around them. A pale face, with huge, almost white eyes and, noticeably, a long, shimmering fish tail, that moved restlessly and fluidly. But it was the expression on that lovely face, glee mixed with sheer rage...

If Keiko could have screamed she would have.

The thing swam around her, not letting her up, however much she thrashed, seeming to enjoy watching her slowly run out of oxygen. And she was. She could hardly hear Kuwabara's struggling anymore, and her vision was going blurry...

And then there was a flash of blue, and something indescribable hit the water next to her, making the mermaid look up, surprise etched onto its face. Keiko took advantage of the distraction to push herself to the surface, gasping for air. She felt a hand grab her arm and pull her up.

"Kuwabara?" She managed, vision still blurry. An unfamiliar voice chuckled.

"Nope."

Her muscles tensed, and she tried to focus on the person with her. What met her eyes was a human face, with slicked back dark hair and the most life-filled eyes she had ever seen. They sparkled with youth and energy so much that Keiko found herself staring, entranced. Then she snapped out of it.

"Oh no! Kuwabara!" She gasped, spinning around to where she had seen him last. To her dismay, there were several mermaids circling around that spot.

"Relax, I got this." The stranger said, before pointing towards them. Then, a small ball of blue light began to build around his finger. Keiko gasped. He shot her a smug grin. Then he fired.

The blue light - magic, she realised, pure magic - shot towards the mermaids, and slammed into the water. Before Keiko could react, the stranger had moved, and was holding in one hand a spluttering Kuwabara, and in the other a furious mermaid.

"Soooo..." the stranger drawled, "what's going on here?"

Keiko gaped openly at him. "You... you're a mage!"

He cocked his head. "Yeah." There was a pause. "Do you not get many of us around here?"

"No, not at all." Keiko said distantly. "Not many people in the Water Plane even really know about magic, let alone use it."

Kuwabara shook his head. "Wait a minute. You're saying this guy here is a mage?"

The stranger tossed him an impatient look. "Yeah, that's what I said. Now listen," He shook his two captives lightly, "What's up with all this?"

Keiko jumped to explain. "We need a mermaid scale for... for a mission. Things got a little complicated."

The stranger gazed her contemplatively, before shrugging. "Whatever." He released Kuwabara, and turned to the mermaid, who bared it teeth, and hissed words in a language that Keiko couldn't understand. It didn't sound friendly though.

The stranger shrugged, and grabbed one of the mermaid's scales.

It screeched, but clearly more out of anger than pain. It scratched at the mage, who scowled and let it go.

"Get out of here." The stranger said. It hissed some more curses, before swimming off, making sure to thoroughly drench all three humans as it went. Kuwabara had moved over to Keiko's side, and the pair were now watching their saviour attentively. He turned towards them and smirked, the expression looking absolutely at home on his face, as he jerked his thumb towards himself.

"The name's Yusuke Urameshi. You're welcome, by the way."

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 **A/N: And so the story begins! Enjoy!**


	2. Water Plane - Part 2

Something about the guy pissed him off.

Kuwabara wasn't quite sure what it was - well, in particular. There were many things really. He had saved them, which could have counted in his favour, if he hadn't been such a dick about it. He was powerful (a mage no less - Kuwabara had only heard stories) which was insulting really. His attitude was annoying, he was smug and obnoxious, and for some reason, Keiko, the princess he was meant to be protecting, was staring at him like he was something she'd never seen before. Which he was, admittedly, but there was something in her eyes that Kuwabara had never seen that made him nervous. She was his friend, and he didn't trust this Urameshi, not one single bit.

Urameshi handed the scale to Keiko, who hurriedly stashed it in the leather pouch hanging by her side.

"So, do I even want to know what you need that for?" He asked brashly. Kuwabara scowled.

"No. You can just be on your way now."

Yusuke smirked. "But what if you find yourselves in hot... _water_... again?" He paused to let the joke sink in. Keiko looked as though she had just seen something quite sad. She cleared her throat to dispel the awkwardness.

"Thank you for your help, Yusuke. I don't want to trouble you any further though. We'll just be heading on our way now."

Yusuke rolled his eyes, but Keiko thought she detected a faint undercurrent of concern when he spoke. "Listen, you said you were on some kind of mission, and if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But if it involves more things like this," he gestured at the lake, where all traces of the mermaids had now disappeared, "then you're out of your depths."

Keiko ignored the pun, but still hesitated. "We... we need to collect more items." She said, wondering if he'd heard of her father's demands. His blank face suggested he hadn't.

"Okay. Is it going to be dangerous?"

Kuwabara's face darkened. "Yeah. Very actually. No one's succeeded yet, and quite a few have died. Most just give up."

Keiko watched as Yusuke's face slowly lit up with a mischievous look. It scared her just a little. Honestly, what kind of person cheered up when they heard that kind of thing?

"A real challenge, huh?" He said with a smirk. "Sounds fun. It's settled, then." His smirk widened into a full-fledged grin. "I'll accompany you, as a bodyguard of sorts."

"No way, I'm already her bodyguard!"

"Oh yeah? And who's _your_ bodyguard?"

"Oh that is it I'm gonna -"

"We can't pay you." Keiko interrupted. Yusuke shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. I've been bored lately. Also, I'm," He coughed a little, "not exactly welcome at home just now. And I really have nothing better to do. Besides, this sounds like a good way to get some training in. So, we'll call it quits."

Keiko felt her lips curl up into a small smile, even though this man still, on some primal level, made her feel a little uneasy. "It's settled then."

Kuwabara turned to gape at her. "But Princess -"

"We need all the help we can get, Kuwabara." She said firmly. She turned to see Yusuke's eyes had lit up with mirth.

"Princess?" He repeated, before bursting out with laughter. Keiko scowled, her brows drawing together.

"What's so funny?" She demanded. Their new ally kept howling with laughter, clutching his stomach.

"Oh, nothing." He got out. "It just explains so much. And what are you," he turned to Kuwabara, "her butler?"

Kuwabara's furious expression only made the other man laugh harder.

"That is it!" Kuwabara yelled, flying towards the mage, fist drawn back. He socked him in the face, knocking Yusuke into the lake. He stopped laughing.

"What was that for, you -" He punched back, "- asshole?"

Keiko was left to watch as the situation degenerated into a brawl, insults flying as quickly as punches. She watched angrily, before clearing her throat pointedly. It had no effect.

"Excuse me." She said, but was once again ignored. "HELLO!" She finally yelled, interrupting the two combatants. Kuwabara had the decency to look sheepish, but Yusuke just smirked confidently, even from where he was with Kuwabara's hands around his neck.

"What's wrong Your Majesty? Did the maids not set out the right clothes?" he mocked. Keiko grit her teeth. This man really knew how to set her on edge. Kuwabara punched him again.

"Don't talk to her like that!"

"Ooh, did I offend Her Majesty? I'm ever so sorry, I shall forever quiver and beg forgiveness!"

"You– "

"Alright stop!" Keiko shouted. When she finally had their attention, she sighed. "It's late, and tomorrow we need to find a way to get to the Air Plane. So if you two could quieten down for a few hours, that would be great. I'm going to set up camp."

Kuwabara grudgingly stepped away from Yusuke, though he would have loved to get at least one more shot in. He had to say though, the other man gave as good as he got, if not better. Yusuke, though Kuwabara was loath to admit it and therefore didn't, was probably a better fighter than he was. He would have liked to prove himself wrong, but damned if he was going to let a princess set up camp by herself.

Yusuke came over as well, smirk fixed firmly in place. "The princess is going to do some work? Surely Her Majesty has some underpaid servants to do this kind of labour for her?"

The sound of Keiko's ringing slap echoed in the silence.

"Don't call me that." She hissed, glaring into his surprised eyes. The shocked expression soon vanished, though Kuwabara's face stayed frozen in astonishment and a small degree of fear for some time.

"Sure thing, Your Majesty." He said, a teasing glint in his eyes. Keiko growled, and went back to setting up.

Later, Kuwabara shot an angry glare at their new companion. "Hey, can't you use magic to light a fire or something? It's freezing."

Yusuke scowled back. "My magic doesn't work like that. I'm not from the Fire Plane." Upon seeing his companions' blank expressions, he sighed. "You get different magic depending on what Plane you're from. For instance, if either of you had magic, which I'm guessing you don't, it would be water magic. You'd probably be able to do things like make it rain, control the tides, splash people. There's a very small amount of mages who are born with a different kind of magic than their Plane. Like, less than 1 percent. And they tend to get treated like crap." He explained.

"So what kind of magic do you use then?" Kuwabara asked, curious despite himself. Before Yusuke could answer, Keiko spoke.

"Raw magic." There was a moment of silence. "That's what it was, right?"

Yusuke shot Keiko a grin. "That's right, though we call it Spirit magic."

"So you're from the Spirit Plane?"

Yusuke nodded. Keiko paused, before asking,

"And... why can't you go home?"

Yusuke grimaced, but it seemed to Keiko like there was more to what he was thinking than that. Like he was trying to make light of a situation that was affecting him. She shook it off. After all, she barely even knew him.

"Its... family stuff. My dad... isn't very happy with me just now." He broke off to grumble something too lowly for them to hear. "And I may have gotten into some trouble with the authorities. Nothing big though!" He was quick to reassure them. "And completely not my fault! Theirs, actually. Not my fault they suck at keeping records." The grimace had turned into an angry scowl.

Keiko frowned, thinking about her own Plane's security system. She would think about what she'd just learned later. "How did you get out then? My father has guards watching the Portals to other Planes."

Yusuke grinned. "I snuck past. It's easier than it sounds, really. But, uh" he coughed. "My old boss did help out a little. Reorganised patrols a bit."

Kuwabara raised his eyebrows. "That's unprofessional." He said, not condemning, just curious. Yusuke shrugged.

"I was very good at my job. He owed me quite a few favours. Besides," and here he looked grudging, "Koenma's not that bad a guy. Annoying as hell, but not a bad guy."

He seemed to sink into his own thoughts for a moment, before shaking himself. "Anyway, you said you needed to get to the Air Plane. There's the Portal I came through that leads to the Spirit Plane, just a while along the bank. We could head there. Then we could use a Portal to the Air Plane that I know of in my homeland."

Kuwabara blinked. "You're on the run from your people, but you want to head straight home? That sounds dumb." He said dubiously. Yusuke scowled.

"I know that there aren't Portals to every Plane everywhere. Do you even have one here that goes to the Air Plane?" This was directed at Keiko. Portals, while not kept secret, were usually not advertised, if only because so few people ever felt the need to leave. If there was one nearby, people would know about it, but the Planes were big. Typically, only a few would know of all the Portals in one Plane, usually important people like royalty. If anyone in their party knew, it would be Keiko.

"We do, actually. But it's far away. I would take us two weeks on horseback, at least." She replied. Kuwabara frowned, hand coming to rest on his chin.

"That was the original plan, since we didn't have a better one. We'd have to make a few supply stops, and the longer we stay, the more chance we have of being found and forced to return home." He said contemplatively. Yusuke smirked.

"Home it is then. We'll have to stay very under the radar. Luckily, I know a few people who could help."

"Your old boss? Uh, Koenma, was it?" Kuwabara asked. Yusuke grimaced.

"Yeah, if I can badger him into it. He's not thrilled with me just now though. I have a few other friends that can help out." He turned away from them. "Anyway, we can go in the morning. Night."

"Goodnight." Keiko murmured back politely, finding that she was fighting sleep herself. Then a thought occurred.

"Say Yusuke, do you know of a Portal to the Ice Plane?"

There was a pause as Yusuke thought it over. "No. Those are incredibly rare. I don't think we have any at all in the Spirit Plane. We only know of the Ice Plane because of passages in books and whatever. I heard tell that there was only one Portal in existence, and it was really well hidden." He told her.

She hesitated. "I suppose we'll have to deal with that problem eventually." She said, trying to dispel the worry that was settling in her gut, aware that this wasn't a good time to bring up the potential futility of their quest. "But not just now. Goodnight, everyone." Just before she closed her eyes, she wondered how it was that Yusuke knew so much anyway.


	3. Spirit Plane - Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho**

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The next morning, Keiko realised they'd overslept immediately. The sun was already high in the sky, but her companions were still asleep. "Oh nononono..." She muttered, leaning over to shake the captain. "Kuwabara! Kuwabara, wake up!"

A grunt and a half-hearted shove was all the answer she received.

"Urgh!" She jogged over to the water, and brought back some to throw at him. He eventually woke up at that.

"What the... Princess? Whassgon on?" He mumbled. She frowned.

"We overslept, and that - Yusuke!"

Yusuke was still very, very asleep.

After repeating the process (Kuwabara had to pull her out of the way of a half asleep punch) they were all up. Yusuke judged it to be about midmorning, to Keiko's annoyance.

A while later, they found themselves in front of a portal. It was a few meters wide and tall, and was only visible because the air shimmered faintly purple, and moved, like it would over a fire or a hot road. Someone had drawn a line in the sand around it, and written "portal" with a stick. Keiko felt her heart speed up. This was it. She had never seen one of these, let alone gone through one.

She took a deep breath. "Let's go."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Yes Your Majesty." He chirped. Then his face turned serious. "I'll go through first. If anything... unsavoury is there waiting, I'll deal with it. But listen," he looked Keiko dead in the eyes, "if I say run, you turn around and jump back through the portal. I mean it. The Spirit Plane is nothing like the Water Plane."

Keiko stared into his eyes. For all his attitude and jokiness, she sensed that he wasn't messing with her this time. She nodded once. He watched her for another moment, before turning and, without ceremony, stepping through the portal, ignoring Kuwabara's outrage.

Keiko watched his form shimmer, then vanish. "Are you ready, captain?" she asked. He fidgeted.

"To be honest, Princess, I don't like the idea of stepping through a magic hole in the world that will take me far from home to another world filled with creepy stuff, but," he straightened, "I am a man, and won't back down so easy. Follow me, Princess."

And he stepped forward.

When Keiko got over the strange feeling of travelling to another Plane, she opened her eyes and gasped. It was very different from her homeland. The sky was purple, but seemed to fade into black, as though you could see straight through the sky into space. The grass was swaying, even though she could feel no wind. And the air itself... seemed to tingle, as though it was just slightly electric.

It was amazing.

She drew her eyes away from her surroundings and focused on the form of the young man who was smirking at her openly.

"Welcome to my humble world." He said, spreading his arms. Her lips twitched upwards slightly.

"I'm surprised the word 'humble' is even in your vocabulary." She quipped. His eyebrows raised, but he grinned wolfishly back.

"I'll have you know I have friends who are very humble." He told her with a laugh. To her own surprise, she laughed back.

"You? Friends?" She said in mock-astonishment. He grinned.

"What can I say? My devilish charm attracts them." Keiko chuckled again at that, but then the light moment passed and a serious expression crossed her new companion's face.

Yusuke sighed. "At least the guards are gone. The Spirit King must have decided watching them was a waste of effort. Lucky for us." He paused, and glanced around. "Alright, here we go." He held his hand up, and charged a magic attack towards the sky. Kuwabara gaped, and moved in front of Keiko. "What are you doing, you psycho?" He demanded. Yusuke scowled.

"I don't know what it's like in your Plane, but here we have more than just humans. And some creatures here can sense magic when it's used. One in particular ought to recognize my own unique energy." He cut off the blue light. "Shouldn't be long–"

There was a puff of thick smoke, and the air seemed a little heavier to Keiko. Yusuke just smirked. "–now"

Keiko watched in fascination as the smoke blew away, revealing a tiny person, with wings that kept her aloft. Kuwabara's jaw hit the floor. "What is that?" He asked.

Next thing he knew, the small form was in his face, shouting angrily. "What do you mean, what is that? Like I'm not a person? I have feelings you know! Is it just because I'm small? Well!" She started to spin wildly. As she did, the smoke coalesced into existence, and when it vanished again, a human sized girl was standing in her place. She had long blue hair and bright pink eyes. Her wings, though, had vanished.

"You're a fairy?" Keiko half-guessed. The girl turned to her, anger forgotten, and winked.

"Bingo!" She exclaimed. "That's right. My name's Botan."

Kuwabara, meanwhile, was staring at her in shock. "Wow." He murmured. "She's beautiful." Yusuke laughed.

"Good to see you Botan, it's been too long."

She turned to him with her hands planted firmly on her hips, a scolding expression on her face. "It's not been nearly long enough, Yusuke! You're in big trouble here! So's Koenma, after the head-start he gave you."

"Some head-start." Yusuke groused, stopping when Botan shot him a dark glance.

"I don't want you to get caught, Yusuke." She said, voice softening. "I know you're not... how they said, but everyone's afraid, and..."

Yusuke coughed, very loudly, and very meaningfully. "I'd prefer it if we didn't discuss the conditions of my situation." Botan looked from Yusuke, to his companions, back to Yusuke, and comprehension slowly dawned on her face.

"Oh...oh, oh! Alright, Yusuke!" She said. Yusuke face-palmed at her sheer obviousness. Keiko shrugged it off.

"Uh, well I'm Keiko, and this is Kuwabara. We're from the Water Plane."

Botan's expression lit up. "Really? That's wonderful! I should love to hear about it! But first, we need to get you somewhere safe." She turned to Yusuke. "Your little show won't have just attracted me, you know. Other fairies will be coming, and they'll probably want to take you to your-"

She was stopped by a hand over her mouth. "That's not important now, Botan." Yusuke growled, as he let go. Botan deflated.

"Oh, I'm so bad at this!" She exclaimed.

Yusuke shrugged. "I know, but how else was I supposed to get a ride to Granny's?"

Botan's eyes lit up. "Oh, what an excellent idea! She'll hide you, and you can explain what you're up to. Come on, let's go!" With that, the smoke came back, turning Botan back into her fairy form, before she began flying around them. Keiko noticed that she wasn't flying straight though, she was executing twirls and spins. Judging by the way the air around them was starting to shimmer, she guessed that Botan was doing something magical.

Seeing her questioning glance, Yusuke explained. "It's called Weaving. It's how fairies cast magic, she's flying a pattern into the air, and dispersing magic as she does so. It has limited uses, but it's pretty reliable. Right now she's Weaving a teleportation spell. It'll take us straight to Granny's."

Keiko frowned lightly, unsure of how she felt about that. But she didn't have long to wonder, since a similar sensation to stepping through a portal was coming over her, and then her surroundings blurred.

When they came back into focus, Keiko was astounded to find herself outside an old but well kept looking building.

"This is Granny's temple." Yusuke said. As he did so, he caught a falling Botan out of the air. Kuwabara was on him like a flash.

"What happened to her? What did you do?" He demanded. Yusuke scowled.

"Calm down, I didn't do anything! She can only Weave in her true form, but because it's so small and Weaving takes a lot of energy, it always knocks her out." He grimaced. "That's one of the limits on her kind of magic. If she tried something too hard, it could kill her." Seeing Kuwabara's look, the scowl returned. "Botan knows her limits, so don't worry. She's not stupid either." He paused, considering. "A bit ditzy, maybe, but not really stupid." He elaborated. Then he was hit by a blue light much like his own that knocked him off his feet.

"Oi, Dimwit, what the hell are you doing back here? Get off my property and then out of this Plane!"

Yusuke grinned as he clambered to his feet. "But Granny, it took me so long to get back here! Don't tell me you haven't missed me."

Keiko turned to face the mysterious 'Granny'. She was surprised to see a tiny old lady with straggly pink hair. Her face was lined, suggesting a grumpy attitude, but her eyes suggested a power that belied her appearance.

"I missed you like I would miss a fatal disease." She growled. "You must be even dumber than I thought, which is saying something, to have come back here at a time like this. Dammit Yususke. It's like instead of common sense, you just have more idiocy."

Yusuke mimed a yawn. "You done yet? I'm not staying long, I just need to get to the Portal that leads to the Air Plane."

'Granny's eyebrows shot up. "Now why would you want to go there? Laying low in the Water Plane was just too easy for you? Did you need your daily quota of dumbass filled?" She snapped. Yusuke growled, but jerked a thumb towards his companions.

"These guys need to go. I'm protecting them."

This was Kuwabara's cue. "Like hell we need protection from you, Urameshi!" He yelled.

The old lady rubbed her temples. "You know what, my day is already ruined. May as well go all the way. Dimwit, find a cushion somewhere for Botan. You lot, inside. You can tell me your whole life story over tea."

Blushing, Keiko gracefully made her way inside. True to her word, the old lady did make tea, and they all sat down, except Botan who was still sleeping.

"So, you're travelling with the Dimwit?"

Keiko nodded. "And you're his grandmother?"

There was a moment of silence, before both Yusuke and the old lady started to laugh.

"I think I'd die if I was related to someone as stupid as him." She eventually said.

"I'm just glad that my genes don't have your special brand of ugly." Yusuke retorted. Then he turned back to Keiko. "Genkai's my teacher. I call her Granny because she's old enough to be one."

"And I call him Dimwit because he really is one."

"So you're a mage too then?" Keiko asked, partly to prevent another argument and partly to cover up her embarrassment over having thought them related. Genkai nodded.

"That's right." She said. Keiko glanced at Yusuke.

"You said there are more than just humans in this Plane. What else is there?" She asked cautiously. Genkai shrugged.

"Demons."

Keiko gasped, and Kuwabara felt his hand twitch slightly towards his sword. They had both, after all, heard terrible tales about demons in the Water Plane.

"Oh, calm down." Genkai scolded. "They're a lot like humans, in that some are good, and some are bad."

"Although with demons it tends to be 'bad' and 'less bad'." Yusuke said with a laugh. Genkai shot him a glare for interrupting.

"Be that as it may, they are kept in check by the spirits." Keiko's eyes widened. Genkai scowled.

"Why did you think we called it the Spirit Plane? Alright, look. The Spirit Plane is split in two, the demon side and the spirit side. The demon side is just demons and anything else they can't kill off. The spirit side is mostly humans, other creatures" she gestured toward Botan, "and all the spirits from all the planes. River spirits, wind spirits, they all took up residence in the Spirit Plane, because of the amount of magic in the air. In contrast, the demon side is run by one king, currently King Raizen. Though he's getting on a bit now. Won't be too long before he croaks." She stated calmly. Yusuke coughed.

"Look who's talking."

Again, Keiko leapt to interfere. "So what did Yusuke do to get in so much trouble?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her. Yusuke opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Genkai answered.

"Nothing." She all but spat. "His arrest is the dumbest thing to come from the Spirit Plane since he himself did." Keiko blinked. Though she had decided that Yusuke's and Genkai's exchanges, although insulting, must come from a deep familiarity with each other, the sheer anger the old lady seemed to feel on Yusuke's behalf betrayed an affection for the youth that belied her harsh words. Keiko began to feel that she understood the relationship the two shared a little better.

"Aw, thanks Granny. I never knew you cared." Yusuke said with a lopsided smile. She grunted. Then she turned to her guests.

"Alright. You two then. What do you need to get to the Air Plane for?"

"Well," Keiko said, "We're on a quest to collect six items from the Planes. We have the one from the Water Plane, so we're moving on." She explained. Genkai's eyes narrowed.

"Six items, hm? The King's Quest, perhaps?" Keiko made a noise of surprise, and instantly regretted it as the old lady's sharp eyes narrowed.

"I see. You're the Princess, then?"

"How did you know?" Keiko gaped. Genkai laughed, though the sound wasn't very happy.

"Girl, you act like one. You have nobility written into every move you make! The way you talk, drink, look, it all betrays you. And you," She turned to Kuwabara, who shuffled backwards slightly. "Are you the young man in love, trying to earn his lady's hand?"

Kuwabara choked on his tea. "No! No, I'm just here to protect the princess." He said, regaining his composure somewhat. Yusuke was looking very confused.

Keiko lifted her chin. "I am earning my own hand, that I may then give it away as I see fit." She declared. Genkai blinked.

"That probably won't work, girl. If anything, it'll look like your man here completed the quest. Still," she said, over Keiko's protests, "it's worth a shot, I suppose. And I applaud your initiative." She looked the princess straight in the eye. "That took guts." She turned to Kuwabara. "And loyalty." She sighed. "Fine, I'll help. What do you need?"

Keiko hesitated, but Kuwabara got straight to the point. This was planning an operation, something he did often as Captain of the Guard. "Supplies, mostly." He said firmly. "And safe passage to the Portal leading to the Air Plane. Urameshi says he can lead us there."

She nodded. "That can be arranged." She got up. "I'll start gathering things. Last thing I want is you kids in my house for longer than need be."

As she left, Yusuke sent the other two a blank look. "Okay, what the hell's going on? What's the deal with your quest?"

And so Keiko explained the situation again. Yusuke laughed, but if Keiko wasn't mistaken, there was a glint of – something. Admiration perhaps? Respect? – in his eyes when he looked at her.

They left the next morning, when Botan finally woke up. They knew she had when she flashed into the room, little more than a blur, saying "Good morning, chaps! How's everyone doing? Did I miss anything good?"

Keiko smiled at her bubbly attitude. "You're feeling better, Botan?"

"Bingo! I feel right as rain!"

They filled her on what she'd missed, and the plan. She clapped her hands together brightly.

"Oh, I have all sorts of tools we could use to -"

"Botan," Yusuke interrupted warningly, with the air of someone who had heard this before, "do you have any of these with you?"

The fairy visibly deflated. "Nevermind."

"Right." Genkai said, tone all business. "You can't rely on Botan's magic, because of its recharge time." At this, Botan looked sheepish. Yusuke smirked.

"Another disadvantage." He remarked. Genkai glared, but otherwise ignored him.

"I've arranged a wagon you can take. It's a few days travel, and you'll have to be careful for bandits, not to mention Spirit guards. Watch yourselves, you hear?" She focused wholly on Yusuke. "You can't get caught Yusuke. A lot depends on it."

Yusuke nodded, strangely serious for once. Keiko found it a little scary.


	4. Spirit Plane - Part 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.**

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They set out the next day, at dawn this time. Yusuke whined loudly, but helped load supplies onto the wagon. The creatures pulling it made Keiko and Kuwabara start: they had a bird's torso and head, but a horse's body. Yusuke didn't react, clearly these was just something that existed in the Spirit Plane, but he did call them hippogriffs. Their journey started out peacefully. There were petty arguments, all involving Yusuke, and one incident when Botan almost got trodden on, but overall, Keiko found that she was becoming comfortable with her group. The blue haired fairy had become her friend, and even Yusuke, despite his brash attitude, was growing on her.

Things came to a head halfway through the second day. They were travelling happily, with Kuwabara trying to hit Yusuke for some stupid reason that Keiko didn't understand, and failing miserably, when suddenly something hit the wagon. The creature pulling it screeched as the wagon tipped onto its side. The next thing Keiko knew, Yusuke's face was in front of hers, looking concerned.

"Are you okay? Keiko?" He yelled. Keiko blinked, and nodded shakily. Yusuke's expression morphed into a grin.

"Good. Listen Your Highness, you stay here with Botan. Me and Kuwabara will take care of this." With that, he clambered out of the tipped wagon. Kuwabara stopped to make sure she wasn't hurt - because he sure didn't trust Urameshi – before following. Botan hovered over, face worried.

"Oh dear, I hope it isn't Spirit Guards. Koenma will be livid!" She babbled. Keiko smiled gently.

"Don't worry, Botan. They'll be fine." She reassured her. "Kuwabara's a Captain, and Yusuke can take care of himself."

Botan seemed to relax slightly as she took in her words. "You're right of course. Come on, let's go see what's going on."

With that, she flew towards the exit, too fast for Keiko to stop her. "Botan!" The princess hissed, before pursuing her. After she's made her way out of the wagon, she gasped. The thing Yusuke was facing off with was made entirely of stone, obsidian eyes gleaming evilly.

"What is that?" She shrieked. Yusuke scowled, but didn't take his eyes off his opponent.

"A golem. Don't worry," he said, startling Keiko as he anticipated her next question. "I can take it." The golem laughed - a horrible gravelly sound.

"Don't be so sure. Besides, you can't have though that I was alone?"

Yusuke's eyebrows shot up, suggesting to Keiko that he actually had - when a growl made itself heard to his left. He spun towards the sound. "Oh, shit–"

The cause was a sort of standing tiger-human hybrid. Keiko shrank back. What kind of monsters lived in this Plane? She suddenly really missed the Water Plane - at least its monsters stayed in the water.

"I am the White Tiger - can you take both of us?" The thing hissed. "There is quite the bounty on your head, Yusuke Urameshi. We could do without your companions, though."

Yusuke's eyes narrowed, but before he could do anything, Kuwabara placed himself firmly in front of the White Tiger.

"This one's mine, Urameshi." He stated determinedly. Yusuke blinked, before shaking his head.

"Kuwabara, these guys are serious. He's a demon. You can't -"

"Shut up, Urameshi." Kuwabara ordered, eyes flashing furiously. "I'll handle this one." His tone brooked no argument. Yusuke had no time to issue any, since the golem swung its tail in his direction. He had to throw himself back to avoid the hit. With a dark laugh, the golem sunk into the ground. Yusuke's eyes widened in alarm.

"Keiko watch out!" He yelled, not knowing where the golem would reappear. Meanwhile, Kuwabara had drawn his sword.

"I'm coming for you kitty!" He shouted, before charging. The White Tiger snarled, and slashed at him with vicious claws. They slid off the blade, but the demon retaliated immediately, and managed to draw a deep scratch on Kuwabara's chest. Keiko's hands flew to her mouth.

"Kuwabara!"

"Don't worry, Princess, I'm fine!" Kuwabara ground out, taking another swipe at his enemy. The demon dodged, and attacked. Kuwabara managed to deflect, but Keiko's heart was in her mouth. Things got worse when Yusuke sailed past her, having taken a hit head on. He hit the ground cursing.

"Well well. Isn't this interesting?"

Everyone froze. The golem and the White Tiger chuckled darkly. Yusuke spun around, looking for the source of the new voice. A young man appeared, slowly walking towards him, followed by a much taller, blue skinned - or were those scales? - person a few steps behind. The leader had blond hair, with red streaks on either side of his face. Something changed in Yusuke's expression, and it didn't exactly fill Keiko with confidence.

"Allow me introduce myself. I am Suzaku, sometimes known as the Crimson Sparrow." He said pleasantly, but his eyes belied his tone. Yusuke scowled.

"And that makes you lot the Saint Beasts."

Suzaku laughed lightly. "How right you are. I see you've heard of us. Of course," his voice darkened, "we've heard of you. Oh yes, the spirits' little mistake, am I right?"

Yusuke's scowl could have burned through a mountain. Suzaku laughed.

"I see. But I see you aren't the only interesting character we have here. A Princess, did you say?" He said, turning to Keiko, who paled. Suzaku considered. "Well, it would be easier for us if you came with us willingly. And I daresay there will be a bounty for a missing Princess as well." He turned to address his men. "Capture the girl. I'll handle Urameshi. And kill the others."

A flash of blue, and Keiko was watching a pile of rock fall harmlessly to the ground. Her eyes flew to Yusuke's face as he lowered his hand. "Stay the hell away from Her Majesty." He hissed, murder in his voice. Suzaku just laughed.

"Congratulations, you destroyed the weakest Saint Beast. I assure you I am not so easy to kill." He said, lifting his own hand. Lightning shot from it, slamming into Yusuke, who let out a strangled scream and flew back, crashing into a tree, where he lay still.

"Hey!" Kuwabara yelled, making to move closer. Claws struck him across the back, drawing blood.

"You're fighting me." The White Tiger reminded him. Kuwabara growled, wanting to go to the Princess he had sworn to protect, but knowing he would be useless if he was disembowelled from behind.

Yusuke struggled to his feet. Suzaku smirked cruelly, and gestured to his blue companion. As the towering creature took a step towards Keiko, Botan spun into her human form and grabbed Keiko's hand.

"I'll protect Keiko! Take them out, Yusuke!" She cried, as she took off with Keiko in tow. The blue demon snarled and made to follow them, but a well-aimed blast of magic stopped him. Yusuke grinned.

"Thanks Botan! I'll buy you some time!" He yelled at the fairy's retreating figure. Suzaku hissed.

"No. You'll be busy." This time, Yusuke was able to dodge the blast, before he surged towards the leader of the Saint Beasts. He always had preferred close combat. Fists were a weapon he had learned to use early.

Keiko tried to keep up with her friend as she was dragged along. "Shouldn't we go back?" She shouted. Botan shook her head furiously.

"No. We can't help. Best we get out the way." She called back. She led the way behind a copse of trees, where she stopped.

"This'll have to do." With that, she returned to her true form, and began to Weave. Keiko watched between pants, trying to figure out what the fairy was doing as she flew in a circle around her. She was distracted by the arrival of the blue demon.

"I hope you didn't think you were going to get away." He sneered. Keiko gulped, and saw Botan's movements hasten. She had to buy time.

"Who are you?" She demanded, trying to inject confidence into her words, and only half succeeding.

"I am known as the Blue Dragon." The demon told her. Keiko gasped.

"You're a dragon?" She asked, confidence abandoned. The Blue Dragon shifted slightly.

"Well, no. I'm a demon. The Ice Dragon is a title. Because I am as powerful as a true dragon." He recovered by the end. Botan stopped, and fluttered over Keiko's shoulder.

"All done!" She sang. Keiko glanced around. The air had changed again, but other than that she couldn't see anything that had changed.

"Um, Botan? Are you sure it worked? Whatever it was?" She asked shakily. The Blue Dragon shook his head, and lifted his arms. The air chilled suddenly. Keiko squeaked and raised her arms to cover her face as a wave of freezing cold passed over her. After a moment of nothing happening, she cautiously opened her eyes. To her shock, the ground around her was completely frozen, but there was an unharmed area with her at its centre. In fact, it was the area inside the circle Botan had Woven around.

"You... you created a shield..." Keiko whispered, astonished. Botan nodded, but something seemed off.

"Bingo! His attacks won't get past it!" She chirped, but sounded a bit - breathless?

"I thought your magic was recharging?" Keiko asked. Botan shook her head.

"Yes, but only the teleportation spell. I can still Weave others." The fairy answered. Keiko breathed a sigh of relief, but this was short-lived, as the Ice Dragon started to laugh. At first it was quiet, but the sound grew until it seemed deafening to the princess. He stopped, and turned an amused gaze towards Botan.

"But if I remember correctly, fairy, this spell draws directly on your magical energy. In other words..." He attacked again, and this time, Keiko heard Botan's sharp intake of breath. "Every hit the shield takes affects you. And when you go down, so does your shield."

Keiko paled, and turned to Botan. "Botan? Is that true?" But she didn't really need a reply. The pallor of the fairy's face, and the grim expression, so out of place on her cheerful face, were answer enough.

"Don't worry Keiko." Botan said instead, voice hard and determined. "I can hold the shield until Yusuke comes. I won't let this jerk get past."

Keiko's gaze flew back to the Ice Dragon, who was charging another attack, and felt fear fill her. Not only for herself, but for her friend shielding her, and for the warriors fighting elsewhere. And she wished that she had Botan's confidence.

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 **A/N: thanks to anyone who favourited/followed/reviewed, your comments are much appreciated!**


	5. Spirit Plane - Part 3

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Shocker.**

xxx

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Yusuke grit his teeth. He had to admit, he wasn't winning. Suzaku was just a little stronger than him. Alright, a lot. At least Kuwabara seemed to be holding his own, whenever Yusuke managed to sneak a look over at their fight. Which was, like, twice. He was snapped from his musings as a fist flashed towards his face. He ducked just in time, and retaliated with a kick meant to hit his enemy's midsection, that instead just grazed his side. They jumped apart, and took a moment to glare at each other. Suzaku opened his mouth, but before he could utter whatever taunt was on his lips, a shout reached their ears.

"Stop! In the name of Enma the Spirit King, Yusuke Urameshi, you are under arrest! Cease this fighting immediately!"

Yusuke spun to face the new arrivals. It was a fighting force made up of around twenty. His heart fell. It just wasn't his day. And Botan and Keiko were still in danger. He grit his teeth. Something had to change, they needed something to go in their favour now to change the tide of battle. But he couldn't see what to do.

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Kuwabara growled as he stepped away from his opponent, a flash of amusement crossing his mind as the White Tiger imitated the sound. He had to admit, though he wasn't an amateur when it came to fighting, the Water Plane was very peaceful, and he had never tested his skills against the likes of this monster. He couldn't help the elation he was feeling every time his sword made it past his enemy's defence. He was having fun, oddly enough. And the occasional glance at Yusuke told him that despite worrying about the girls – and he was too, no doubt about that. Keiko was his Princess after all, and Botan was a friend (a very beautiful friend) – he liked fighting too. And there was something about fighting an enemy stronger than you, one that made you push your skills past their limit, that made it better.

Still, this needed to end. Keiko and Botan needed help.

Kuwabara raised his sword, and roared. He was dimly aware of more people arriving, but that could wait. He had something to settle first. He ran at the demon, who snarled and raised his claws. Kuwabara feinted left, catching his enemy momentarily off guard and managing to slash him. It wasn't very deep, but it distracted him long enough for Kuwabara to knee him in the gut. Then, Kuwabara finally saw his opening. He moved in and drove his sword towards the demon's stomach. He was distantly aware that the claws were digging into his side, tearing skin, but he had known that would happen when he made the move. It was a small price to pay.

Only when the White Tiger was ran through, did Kuwabara know he had won.

He tugged his sword free, and turned to see Yusuke, who probably needed his help. Any warmth he had been feeling at his victory ebbed away as a cold feeling washed over him. Oh, this so wasn't good.

xxx

Suzaku smirked. "Company? How lovely. Shall we have them join us, Urameshi?" He mocked, before reaching to an object hanging by his hip. "I haven't told you about this little gimmick of mine yet, have I? You'll just love it."

Yusuke recognised the feeling of dread filling him. He was therefore surprised when Suzaku held up a flute of all things. He knew better than to underestimate it, but still.

"Sorry, I left my fiddle in my other jacket. We'll have to duet another time." He snarked. Suzaku chuckled.

"This is no ordinary flute, Urameshi. See for yourself."

He raised the flute to his lips, and started to play. Yusuke had to grudgingly admit that he was quite talented. But then he noticed the blank looks on the faces of the Spirit Guards, and the way they all walked forwards in time with each other and lined up behind Suzaku. His heart dropped.

"Crap."

Suzaku laughed. "I see you understand. My flute allows me to control the minds of others. So, shall we play?"

Yusuke growled, but didn't move. This just got worse and worse. Then he felt someone come up next to him, and turned to see Kuwabara.

"So what's the plan Urameshi?"

For a moment, Yusuke stared dumbly. Then a grin stretched across his face.

Now this was a development he could work with.

xxx

Botan had had to land on Keiko's shoulder, even though she always fluttered about, and by now she was shaking slightly and gasping for breath. Keiko was terrified.

"Botan! If you overuse your magic, you could die!" She almost shrieked. Botan just grit her teeth.

"I - I'm fine, K-k-keiko. Don't... Don't worry." She ground out. Keiko was anything but reassured. Yusuke's words flitted through her mind. _Botan knows her limits, so don't worry. She's not stupid either._ But Keiko wasn't worried about Botan not knowing her limits. She was worried about her pushing past them, and being completely aware of the consequences as she did it.

xxx

Kuwabara slashed his sword again, cutting down another Spirit Guard. Urameshi's words echoed in his head. _Take care of these guys. Get to the girls if you can. If I know Botan..._ Here he paused, like there was something he should add but he didn't want to put it into words. _I'll handle this asshole. It's about time things got serious._ Kuwabara huffed. It was proving easier said than done. The Spirit Guards were no slouches, and he was injured. All in all, not great. But Yusuke still had the hardest job. He was starting to use his magic more and more, and was clearly exhausting himself. But he had no other option really. So Kuwabara would at least do his part. He rushed in the direction the princess had headed.

When he got behind a copse of trees, he saw a blue demon facing off with Keiko, who had Botan slumped on her shoulder. That alone was enough to worry him. The fairy was in constant motion, and certainly never used people as landing stations. They were also standing in a snowy landscape, which seemed odd. And if he concentrated, he could make out what he could only describe as a barrier surrounding Keiko. _That explains how she's still alive,_ he reflected grimly. Still, it was clear that the Princess was in trouble, and so was the fairy, so he rushed forwards.

"Hey, blue freak!" He yelled. The Ice Dragon turned in surprise. Kuwabara gave him just long enough to prepare - he was a man, after all, and men don't attack from behind - before charging. The Ice Dragon launched an attack, but Kuwabara was quick enough to dodge it and keep coming. From Keiko's point of view, the rest was a blur of swords, limbs and ice. She held her breath. The fight was quite even. Though Kuwabara was still injured, the Ice Dragon had been using his magic for some time now, and was starting to tire. Furthermore, his attacks, while very powerful and destructive, were not meant for close combat, unlike Kuwabara's sword. She gasped when Kuwabara staggered back, having taken a punch to the gut.

"Captain!" She screamed. Hearing her voice, Kuwabara looked up, and new fire filled his eyes. He charged again, faster than before, sword slashing left under the Ice Dragon's guard. Keiko's hands flew to cover her mouth as the Ice Dragon finally slumped to the ground. Kuwabara stood there, panting, before turning to the girls.

"Princess... are you... and Botan... alright?" He got out, trying to breathe at the same time. Keiko gasped and gently picked up Botan.

"Botan! Botan, you need to lower the shield! We're safe now, let it down! Botan!

The fairy managed to open her eyes a fraction, the pink colour seeming muted now. She gave a tiny nod and dispelled the shield. Then, with a soft exhale, she passed out.

"Botan!"

Before she could worry more, a group of Spirit warriors appeared.

"Shit." Kuwabara deadpanned, lifting his sword once more. "You had best run, Princess. Yusuke wasn't doing great last I checked." He yelled over his shoulder, before returning to battle. Keiko froze. Somehow, the possibility that Yusuke would lose hadn't quite seemed realistic before. There was just something about him that inspired confidence. Besides, she had seen his magic, seen his skill, and it just hadn't seemed like he could actually do anything but come out on top. He had to win.

 _He just couldn't lose!_

She set off at a blind run, heading towards what was probably the most dangerous part of the battlefield, darting around confused Spirit guards. Still holding onto to Botan, she ignored Kuwabara's alarmed shouts and orders for her to stop, heading recklessly back the way she came. When she finally saw Yusuke, she stopped and gaped. "Yusuke?" She whispered, horrified. Yusuke wasn't looking good. He was on his feet, but it didn't look like that would last long. He had clearly taken a few too many punches. There were several Spirit Guards on the ground around him, and he was facing off with Suzaku who, to Yusuke's credit, wasn't unharmed. Just less harmed than Yusuke.

"You know, Urameshi, I have to hand it to you. I don't think I've been this pissed off in quite some time. Well done. I'm going to kill you now." Suzaku said, raising his hand and charging another lightning attack. Yusuke tensed visibly, but seemed too out of it to move. Instead, he sank to one knee. Keiko's eyes widened.

"Yusuke!" She screamed. Yusuke's head shot up, panic written across his features.

"Get out of here, Keiko!" He shouted back. Suzaku turned to look at her, a sneer on his face.

"The brave princess returns, hm? I think I've had enough of this."

Keiko understood the situation too late. She took one step back, but found she couldn't move further. She glanced down and realised she was still holding Botan. She cursed herself for dragging her friend down with her, after everything the fairy had done. Then light surrounded her, and she closed her eyes.

After a few seconds of not dying, Keiko dared look around her again. And gasped. She could _feel_ the static in the air around her, but she hadn't been zapped. Because Yusuke was planted firmly in front of her. It took her a moment to realise that his arms, which he had crossed in front of his face to shield himself, were coated in spirit magic, which he was using to block the lightning. When Suzaku's attack died out, Yusuke dropped his arms, and to Keiko's astonishment, smirked.

"Sorry, but Her Majesty's off limits for killing. You'll have to make do with me."

Keiko took another step back when she saw the outrage on Suzaku's face. But Yusuke seemed confident. Or at least, not about to drop. Or maybe... was she interpreting that wrong, or was there an edge of anger in his tone? In his eyes?

Yusuke charged, fists still wrapped in magic. Suzaku snarled, and aimed a kick at his opponent's neck, which Yusuke dodged under, before retaliating with a left hook. Suzaku was caught off guard, and took the brunt of his spirit magic head on. He was knocked back, and looked up, shocked.

"But how? You weren't this powerful before!" Then he realised with a start that Yusuke's eyes were glowing blue. He gasped and stepped back. "No... You're using everything... All the magic you have..."

Yusuke smirk twisted slightly. "You threatened someone you really shouldn't have." He hissed, before firing his strongest beam of magic yet. Suzaku's eyes widened. Then he screamed as he was blown away.

Keiko watched, partly in awe, partly in fear. She was beginning to understand, in a way she hadn't before, that Yusuke was powerful. Not just because he had magic, although that put him above the vast majority of Water Plane people in terms of sheer power. No, even among other mages, he was strong. She had never felt quite as vulnerable as she did now, watching Yusuke, with his glowing eyes, destroy Suzaku, who had previously outmatched the Spirit mage.

Then Yusuke turned around. And shot her his trademark grin with a thumbs-up, before collapsing. She stared. Before smiling, and running up to him. Because yes, he was dangerous, but he was still Yusuke, and he was still her friend. He was not dangerous to her.

"Yusuke! Are you okay?" She asked, dropping to her knees next to him. He grunted.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?"

She blinked. And laughed. He struggled up so he was sitting. Then he gasped.

"Botan!" He stared at the fairy Keiko was still holding. He scowled. "Damn, I knew she'd use the shield."

He was prevented from saying anything else by a small blue cloud poofing into existence above them. Keiko squeaked and inched closer to Yusuke, even though he was a bit out of shape. To her surprise, he just groaned. Then, because her day hadn't been hard enough, the cloud dissipated to reveal a weird floating baby thing complete with pacifier.

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 **A/N: Voila, the next chapter. This story is already written, there are just a few changes I need to make here and there, so there will be quite regular updates. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and thanks again to anyone who reviewed/followed/favourited!**


	6. Fire Plane - Part 1

**Disclaimer: no change on the Yu Yu Hakusho ownership front: it still doesn't belong to me.**

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Yusuke groaned. "Koenma. Fantastic timing as always. You were _this close_ to actually arriving when you could have been useful. Good job." He said, irony dripping from his voice. Keiko started.

" _You're_ Koenma?" She blurted. He turned an angry face to her, but because he was barely two, it didn't have much effect.

"Yes, thank you Princess Keiko of the Water Plane, I am the Spirit Prince Koenma, Yusuke's old boss." He snarked. Keiko edged back.

"Oh, lay off, toddler. We get it, you know stuff. Big deal." Yusuke sighed. "Now, if you _did_ stuff... Now that would be a neat trick."

Koenma turned his cross face back to its original target. "That's enough out of you. I helped you escape, remember? I risked my own neck for that, and I don't recall getting much thanks."

Yusuke was about to retort, when Koenma raised a hand. "Anyway, enough about that. I'm here to warn you. My father sent reinforcements, they'll be here any minute."

Yusuke swore. "Spirit Guards?"

The young prince nodded.

"How many?"

"More than you can handle in your current state. Although well done for taking out as many as you did." He said, looking around. "A few serious injuries, but all non-fatal ones, as long as they get treatment soon. No deaths. Very commendable. It was mostly the work of your companion, right? The big ginger one? Give him my thanks. Oh, here he is now."

True enough, Kuwabara was approaching.

"Well, I can't stay. If I'm seen here, Dad will be angry. Get out, Yusuke. You know where the nearest Portal is?"

Yusuke nodded.

"Use it. Run. Also, Botan needs help." He said, glancing at the blue haired woman. "She went too far beyond her limits. She's not going to recover from this on her own."

Yusuke looked worried. "You should take her then." He said. Koenma shook his head, looking sad.

"I can't. My father's watching me very closely just now. If I bring her back, she'll be indanger. She's safer with you." He ignored the stupid look Kuwabara was giving him, and the confused finger pointing in his direction. "I've done all I can. Best of luck, Yusuke and friends." With that, he vanished into a cloud again. Kuwabara was still pointing.

"Was that a floating baby?" He asked.

Yusuke sighed, and got to his feet. "Yes, yes it was. He says thanks for not killing his guys."

Kuwabara looked perplexed, before understanding dawned.

"They were just doing their jobs. I wasn't going to kill them." He muttered.

"Anyway, we've got to leave now. I'm afraid the Air Portal is too far to reach. We're heading to the Fire Plane instead." His tone left no room argument. He limped over to the destroyed remains of the wagon, where the hippogriffs were still patiently standing. He put a hand on their feathered necks, and came back, with the creatures following peacefully.

"Your Majesty, your noble steed." He said, gesturing for her to come forward. She blanched.

"Uh, well..." Before she could protest more, Kuwabara picked her up and put her on one of the hippogriff's backs.

"Well okay then." She groused. "Why do I have to ride this thing?"

"Because we're going to make a run for it, and he'll be faster than we would on foot. Also, we have him, why shouldn't we use him?" To Keiko's shock, he then proceeded to pull himself up in front of her.

"A-and why do _you_ have to ride this thing?" She asked shakily. He sighed.

"Because we only have two, and Kuwabara's bigger than me. And because I got beaten up, that's why. Now, if we don't move _right now_ , we'll all die."

No one wanted to argue with that, so Kuwabara got on his own mount, and they set off. Keiko squeaked and instinctively wrapped her arms around Yusuke's waist for balance, causing her cheeks to redden. After a while though, Keiko, despite the situation, found herself relaxing.

After a moment's hesitation, she spoke. "Yusuke?" She murmured. She felt him straighten slightly, telling her that he was listening. "Thank you for protecting me. And... and for saving me." She said softly, leaning her head on his shoulder. After a moment's silence, he replied.

"You're welcome."

To her surprise, his voice was quiet as well. He didn't turn around, but she could picture his face all too clearly. She felt her lips quirk into a small smile, and she lapsed back into silence.

Although the ride wasn't unpleasant, she was still overwhelmingly relieved when Yusuke announced that they had reached the Portal. They slid off the Hypogriffs, who Yususke informed them didn't do well outside the Spirit Plane, and turned them lose. And so, rather unsteadily, the group made it to the Portal and as one, stepped through.

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Keiko gasped as she hit the floor. She could feel the skin on her hands, already torn from her descent from Trition Rock, get even more messed up. When she finally decided she may as well open her eyes, she froze. They definitely weren't in the Spirit World anymore.

"Huh. Guess we made it." Yusuke punched Kuwabara's shoulder. The Captain just stared at their surroundings with a horrified expression. Yusuke glanced at his companions, and noticed that they were both sporting the same horror-struck look. He looked around properly.

"Oh. I guess I can see why you wouldn't like it here." He muttered.

The Fire Plane was a barren landscape. The ground was made of black, jagged rock, and not far from the Portal, a volcano bubbled away. There were several more in the distance. The air was hot and muggy, and the sky was a dark red, with ominous black clouds streaked across it.

Keiko thought of her homeland, the rivers and lakes, with the soft rain and pleasant noises. She had never felt as far from home as she did now. In fact, she felt like he had just stepped into a waking nightmare. Kuwabara looked like he was having similar thoughts.

Yusuke sighed. "Come on. It looks like there's a village down there. We need to find a healer." He shot a grimace towards Botan, who was still unconscious. "Quickly."

Keiko nodded, feeling terrible for being the cause of her friend's situation. Yusuke led the way towards the cluster of stone houses he had spotted.

When they arrived, Yusuke brazenly walked to the nearest door and banged on it. The door opened a fraction of an inch.

"What do you want, stranger?" A voice asked. Yusuke was about to snap something when Keiko hurriedly pushed him out of the way.

"We're sorry to bother you, but my friends are hurt, and they really need a healer. Is there one here we can go to?" She asked, using all her royal politeness. The voice was silent for a moment. Then,

"The big building on the corner." Then the door slammed in their faces. Yusuke shot Keiko a glare. She huffed. "What? You would have made him angry, or frightened him or something. It's obvious these people aren't used to visitors."

Yusuke just strode away. They quickly spotted the house in question, and this time Yusuke just barged in. Keiko guessed he was actually more worried about Botan than he was letting on. The thought almost made her smile slightly. She hurried after him, feeling very awkward.

"Yusuke! You can't just –"

"Oh my. Visitors?" The three travellers started at the unfamiliar voice, and turned in its direction. A figure stepped forwards out of the shadow. All three of them gaped. Then Keiko blushed and averted her gaze at the sheer _audacity_ of this woman. Yusuke and Kuwabara seemed shocked but in no hurry to look away. Yusuke especially, she noticed, anger flaring in her heart.

The woman in question was wearing nothing but what looked like golden strings, that barely covered her. Her vibrant red hair fell in a soft curtain, and she was, Keiko realised with more anger, very beautiful. She was smirking, aware of the effect she was having, but also curious.

"What can I do for you?" She asked, when no response was forthcoming from the group. Keiko scowled.

"These idiots are hurt. And my friend here is in worse shape. We heard there was a healer here who could help." _Please let it not be her please let it not be her please let it not be her –_

"Well, that would be me." _Damn._ "You say the tiny one is the most critical condition?" Keiko nodded. The woman looked a little baffled.

"I'll admit, I've never seen someone so small before." She said. "Are those wings?"

Yusuke recovered enough to answer. "Uh, yeah. Botan's a fairy."

The woman nodded, as if to say _oh._ "So you'll be from the Spirit Plane then? I've heard stories, but never been." She gestured for Keiko to hand over Botan.

"She overused her magic. She hasn't woken up since." Keiko said quietly. The healer nodded.

"I see. I'm Ruka by the way." She gently set Botan down on the table, before frowning. "I'm afraid your friend's condition is beyond me. I'm a healer, not a mage. I don't know how to fix this." She said sadly. Yusuke shook his head.

"No, you've got to help her." He said seriously. Ruka bit her lip, before motioning him over.

"Let me heal your wounds, and I'll tell you something that might interest you."

Yusuke and Kuwabara glanced at each other, before moving over to the red-headed healer. As she applied a salve and wrapped bandages around their injuries, she spoke.

"It's not much more than a legend around here, but it's said that there's a cave under the volcano to the north of this town. Supposedly, this cave holds an item that can heal anything."

"Anything?" Keiko interrupted sceptically. Ruka nodded.

"Yes. Now, I don't know what to make of that really, since I have no idea what could possibly be so powerful. But the story has been around these parts for longer than I have."

"Hold on. If this super-healing thing is supposed to be in this cave, how come no one's found it?" Kuwabara asked. Ruka paused briefly in her actions.

"This is why I'm not sure I should be telling you this..." She hedged. Yusuke shot her a serious look.

"My friend's in bad shape. Tell me."

She gazed into his determined eyes, before sighing.

"Fine. Many have gone into that cave. Groups, warriors, even mages. None have ever come out." She explained, a dark look on her face. Silence met her words. She shook her head. "Some people say the cave is actually a maze that stretches for miles underground. Others think it's guarded by someone. Or that some kind of monster is nesting there. In any case, no one has lived to tell the tale."

Kuwabara chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, I see why you're worried. That's pretty scary." He exchanged glances with Yusuke, who looked grim. "But we're going anyway."

Ruka sighed. "Somehow, I thought you would. You seem the types."

Keiko clasped her hand together awkwardly. "We'll need to leave soon. Botan's not doing well." She said quietly. Kuwabara and Yusuke both sent her surprised looks.

"Uh, Princess, don't you think maybe you should stay here?" Kuwabara asked bluntly. Keiko shook her head.

"No, I knew what I was getting into when I left home." She hadn't, not really, but that was beside the point. "This is no more dangerous than some of the other things I set out to do." True, but she had been woefully ignorant about how potentially fatal her quest was. The truth she was really unwilling to face, however, was that the only people getting hurt were the ones protecting her. Her friends. That particular point was driven home as she watched the warriors get their many wounds bandaged up, with the normally cheerful fairy unconscious and pale on the table. All while Keiko herself was unharmed. Well, mostly. Ruka did wrap up her hands as well.

Yusuke watched her carefully. "Look Your Majesty, there's a really good chance we'll die." He said. She nodded. "Yes, but what if the cave is actually a maze like Ruka said?"

The two men looked at each other, silently asking if they thought they could figure out a maze.

"Okay, good point." Yusuke admitted. "But–"

"I'm going and that's final." She said, pulling her best royalty voice out. Yusuke sighed.

"Sure, why not I guess." He stood up. "You know, whatever that stuff is, it works a treat. You're a pretty good healer." He said to Ruka. She smiled.

"Why thank you. If you're determined to go, then I would suggest you take your friend with you in case it's something you can use on the spot. Also, I'll have to ask you to bring it back here. As a healer, this mysterious object intrigues me, you understand." A certain gleam entered her eyes as she finished. Yusuke suspected he looked similar when he was talking about a particularly dangerous opponent. He grinned.

"Gotcha. We'll do what we can. Thanks!"

With a jaunty wave, Yusuke headed out. Kuwabara and Keiko made to follow, but were stopped.

"Wait! I think I have a bag somewhere, if you want..." Ruka said, rummaging through a closet. "Ah, here." She grabbed the open handbag, stuffed a scarf in it – _you could be wearing that scarf, it would already be an improvement on your current outfit, just because it's hot here doesn't mean you have to dress like_ that, _I mean, does it even count as dressing? –_ and gave it to Keiko, who shook away her traitorous thoughts. "So you don't have to worry about dropping your friend. Also, take these torches. Just set them alight and you'll get a few hours."

Keiko, keeping her face blank, politely thanked the healer. In truth, she didn't like to think about Botan's reaction to the fact that she was putting her in a bag, but on the other hand, carrying her was equally weird, really. It was like holding a bird, only it was actually your friend. Keiko sighed, as she hurried after Yusuke. The sooner they found this mysterious item, the better.

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 **A/N: And so we move on to the Fire Plane! Thanks to everyone who is reading!**


	7. Fire Plane - Part 2

**Disclaimer: still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.**

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The walk to the volcano was a quiet one. Keiko was running through possibilities of things that could be waiting for them. It was quite terrifying. Yusuke looked unconcerned. She found herself wondering if this wasn't actually the kind of thing he lived for. He had been all too keen to go with them on their potentially fatal quest, after all. Because it would be … _fun,_ he had said. She stared at the back of his head. _Just what kind of person are you, Yusuke Urameshi?_

Kuwabara walked morosely. In truth, he had been quite happy in the Water Plane. He had a good, respectable job. His sister was a pain, but he loved her really. And he had felt at home there. So while he would accompany the Princess and keep her safe, because she was his friend – and his boss, technically – he didn't relish the idea of dying in this unfamiliar place that went against everything he knew and loved. He shook himself out of his dark thoughts. _That just means I'll have to stay alive._

There was nothing even slightly welcoming about the volcano, as they found out when they reached it. It was huge, and was spitting steam and fire constantly. Keiko felt her heart drop as she stared at it.

"And we have to go inside this thing?" She asked weakly. Yusuke nodded. He turned to look at her, and she was surprised to see nothing but determination and a sort of anticipation in his eyes.

"What's wrong, your Majesty? Scared?" He taunted. She blushed.

"No!" She snapped, wondering how he managed to turn an honorific into an insult _every. Single. Time_. He laughed, and headed towards the opening of the cave. She watched him walk, and found to her surprise that he had cheered her up. His confidence, it seemed, was catching. With a small smile, the kind she found herself wearing more and more around Yusuke, she walked after him. Kuwabara watched this exchange with interest, before smiling himself, and following.

Yusuke led the way into the dark cave. Using a stray rock and the wall of the passage, he lit the first torch. With a quick glance backwards to ensure that his companions were behind him, he set off. Keiko glanced around nervously. It was dark – very dark, and the air was becoming too hot for comfort. It was almost hard to breathe. She edged closer to Yusuke. She was lost in her thoughts and worries, and was therefore caught off guard when, with a yell, Yusuke suddenly vanished, taking the light with him.

"Yusuke!" She cried, thoughtlessly jumping forward to try and stop him, even though he was already gone. And that is how she fell down the same hole he did.

She heard Kuwabara shout "Princess!" Behind her, but then everything was drowned out by her screaming. For a few seconds, the drop was vertical, but then it levelled out a little. The stone was smooth, and with the various twists and turns the tunnel made, it reminded her of the waterfalls she used to slide down as a child at home. This in no way made it any less terrifying, and she scrunched her eyes shut as she kept going at breakneck speed.

Kuwabara was left in a tight spot. Two – no, make that three – of his companions had gone one way. But there was a good chance it was the wrong way. If he followed, there was a chance he was compromising his only chance at rescuing them. He shook his head. He couldn't know what would happen, but his duty was always to protect the princess. So, cursing his life, he jumped in after her.

The tunnel she was sliding down at top speed was flattening more now. If she had to guess, she'd say the ride was almost over. She was proved right, as she emerged in a huge cavern. She was a little distracted, however, by the fact that she'd just landed on top of Yusuke. He groaned.

"Keiko? What the hell happened?" He asked.

"We fell down an awful tunnel." She muttered.

"Really? I thought it was fun." He said lightly. Keiko huffed a laugh, trying to get up. But she was a little dizzy, and Yusuke was trying to get up as well, and the result was a tangle of limbs that neither could figure out. Keiko blushed as a failed attempt caused her to fall back onto his chest. She made the mistake of looking at his face, just as he glanced up at her. She was suddenly aware of the position they were in, and stammered awkwardly.

"I'll just... er... well, I... uh..." Then she noticed that he was very still, and hadn't said anything. She chanced another look at him, when a loud clattering alerted them to the imminent arrival of Kuwabara. Yusuke and Keiko redoubled their efforts to get out of the way. They just managed to avoid being squashed by the Captain of the Guard. He was chuckling slightly as he got up.

"Heehee... whee!" He said quietly, before turning to face his friends. "Nice one, Urameshi! You even had the torch! Couldn't you have just watched where you were going? But _noooo_ , you had to fall down a hole in the ground and get us into a huge mess!" He ranted. Yusuke scowled.

"Hey, listen, if you wanna start something -"

"Uh, guys? Have you seen this place?" Keiko interrupted, staring in awe at their new surroundings. The other two stopped bickering, and gasped.

"Woah." Yusuke breathed.

They were in a huge, high-ceilinged carvern. Huge stalactites hung down, and they were made of some kind of reflective crystal. There were stalagmites as well, made of the same thing, and scattered all over the floor of the cavern. They were easy enough to walk around though. Keiko walked over to one, and stared at her reflection in it.

"It's like a huge hall of mirrors..." She murmured.

A strange silvery light lit up the cavern, leaving the ceiling shrouded in shadow. Yusuke grinned.

"Hey guys, over there! It looks like an entrance to another cavern! Maybe the cure Ruka told us about is in there!"

Keiko glanced in the direction he was pointing, and smiled. "You're right Yusuke!"

Their joy was ruined by Kuwabara's panicked voice. "Uh, guys? Guys, I just saw the ceiling move!"

Yusuke scowled. "Say what now?"

"The ceiling! Or the shadows, or something! It moved!"

"Riiiiight." Yusuke drawled. "You're sure you're not just imagining it?"

"Dammit Urameshi, I'm serious! There's something here!" Kuwabara said, drawing his sword. Yusuke stared into the shadows, trying to glimpse whatever the Captain saw. He scowled.

"I'm checking that room out. Kuwabara, watch Her Majesty." He jogged away, and that was when everything happened.

A huge black shape dropped down from the ceiling, with a roar loud enough to shake the walls. With a startled yell, Yusuke leapt back and regrouped with the others. They stared at the monster that was now standing in front of the very place they wanted to get to.

When Keiko saw it, she screamed. She couldn't help it, the beast looked like a monster from a horror story. Its long body was black, and covered with scales. All four of its feet had vicious looking claws – talons? A barbed tail swung threateningly behind it. That wasn't the most dangerous thing about it though:it had and a huge jaw that Keiko just knew had fangs, and glowing red eyes stared at them furiously. Everything about it looked designed for killing. This was a predator, a monster, a killer. Now she knew what had happened to everyone who had come here. They had faced this, and died.

Kuwabara was having similar thoughts to Keiko, but he was also trying to plan a way to take out this terrifying monster. He was a man, and he wasn't going down without a fight. Then the monster slowly unfurled huge black wings.

"Dragon." Yusuke breathed. "A dragon. We're screwed."

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 **A/N: here we go, the start of the action in the Fire Plane! Special thanks to those who reviewed, and to everyone who is reading this story. Hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Fire Plane - Part 3

**Disclaimer: don't own Yu Yu Kakusho.**

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Kuwabara gulped. He had heard stories, of course, but somehow he had imagined the creatures to be smaller, less likely to kill him. This thing was huge and imposing. And deadly. No doubt about that.

And that was before it decided to breathe fire at them.

"DUCK!" Yusuke yelled, diving behind a stalagmite. His companions followed suit, avoiding the blast of black fire with only moments to spare. Yusuke's eyes widened as he saw the colour of the attack.

"Shit! Guys, it's a very powerful dragon! Running would be good!"

Keiko resisted the urge to curl up with her hands over her ears. It would help no one. "We can't go back up the tunnel! It's useless!" She called back, panic etched into her voice. Yusuke chanced a look at the beast, and was surprised to find it not attacking, just watching them. _Like it's waiting... but what for?_ He clenched his teeth. He had no intentions of dying here.

He rolled out of cover, charging a powerful magic attack as he moved. The fire hit his previous hiding place moments after he left it, but he was already moving. As he ran, he fired a beam of energy at the dragon. Caught off guard, the beast was unable to dodge in time, and the blast hit it in the chest. The deafening roar the dragon released made Keiko scream and Kuwabara cringe. Yusuke got behind another pillar. The sound of beating wings reached the group's ears. Kuwabara peeked out, and saw that the beast had taken off, and had moved so that it was concealed in the shadows of the ceiling. He swore. Now they didn't know where it was. He was distracted from his musings by Yusuke's wild gesturing. The black haired man mimed out wings flapping, then stabbing. _Aim for the wings. Restrict its mobility._ Kuwabara nodded. At least if the damn thing was grounded, both fighters stood a chance of hurting it. Yusuke shot a blast towards the ceiling, but a weak one so it wouldn't bring the world down on their heads. It did little more than light up the cavern, but that was enough to reveal the dragon's location. With a snarl, the dragon shot off. Yusuke fired more shots at it, but despite having to weave between stalactites, the black beast was proving itself to be extremely fast and agile. It was barely hindered by all the twists it had to make, and in fact was often able to place itself so that Yusuke's attack hit crystal rather than dragon. Scowling, Yusuke realised his tactics weren't helping. That was when the dragon dropped towards him like a stone, jaws wide. Only battle-honed reflexes allowed Yusuke to jump sideways to safety, causing the dragon to crash into the ground instead, sending rock flying as its razor-sharp claws tore up the ground. Yusuke wasn't in the clear though: he had forgotten about the barbed tail, which whipped to the side, catching him full on in the stomach and sending him flying. He hit a stalagmite and crashed through it, in a shower of crystal shards.

"Yusuke!" Keiko shrieked. The dragon's head whipped towards her. With another short scream, Keiko fell backwards.

"Oh no you don't!" Kuwabara yelled, slashing wildly. The dragon reared back, before shooting a blast of black fire at him. Kuwabara rolled out of the way, but his arm was still too close to the unnatural flames for comfort. He bit back a scream, as the flames seemed to burn without heat, more like acid he would guess. It wasn't good. He tried to refocus on the fight. To his surprise the dragon was apparently waiting for them to pick themselves up. Kuwabara frowned.

"Hey Urameshi! See what it's doing?" He asked, as quietly as he could while still being heard. Yusuke glanced at the beast they were facing.

"It's dragging the fight out." He replied. "Guess it doesn't get much fun down here." He said with a smirk. Any other time, Kuwabara would have been amazed at his comrade's ability to joke under pressure, but this was serious. "Urameshi, that thing's smart. Like, almost human smart." He warned. Yusuke nodded, understanding. Any trap they pulled was going to have to be good, because this thing wouldn't fall into just anything. Too obvious and it would see through it.

The dragon seemed to run out of patience, as it sent another deadly blast their way. Then it pounced towards Yusuke, who was forced to dodge. Kuwabara capitalised on their main advantage, which was in numbers, but again forgot about the tail, and was forced back by a careless swipe in his direction. Yusuke meanwhile had managed to jump over a claw set to kill him, and had dashed under the thing's belly. He shot a blast at it, and while the dragon roared, just as loudly as before, it didn't seem particularly hurt. He guessed the scales were very tough. A blast of air that almost pushed Yusuke to the ground, and the dragon was aloft. And could now aim at Yusuke properly. So the Spirit mage did the only thing he could think of to prolong his life. He jumped up and grabbed onto the creature's talon.

Its outraged bellow was terrifying, and it shot off into the air, shaking its leg in an attempt to get rid of the mage. Yusuke wasn't giving up that easily though. He fired a blast in a random direction, hoping to hit the beast, and slow it down at the least. Its responding howl was unexpected. As was its sudden crashing into several stalactites, when it had shown such dexterity before. Then it dived again. Yusuke realised too late that it was planning on crushing him. With a panicked yell, he threw himself clear. He landed heavily on his side, and gasped in pain. It wasn't too bad though, considering. He pulled himself to his feet, and saw the dragon pawing at its face. _I must have hit it in the eye!_ He realised. Then he saw Kuwabara was charging again, sword drawn. The dragon jerked its head back up, jaws already open to blast fire. Yusuke fired a shot at it from what he figured would now be its blind spot. The distraction was enough for Kuwabara to get close. The dragon seemed to understand the threat, and made to take off again. Yusuke ran towards it. If he and Kuwabara tag-teamed it, they might just stand a chance. He fired off shot after shot at its face. It roared again, unable to take off while it tried to protect its head. It did, however, lift up its wings so Kuwabara couldn't reach them. _Damn, this thing_ _ **is**_ _smart._ The tail swung again, but this time Kuwabara was able to hurdle it. The dragon growled as Kuwabara got close enough to slash at its legs. The sword slid off the scales, but it still seemed to piss the monster off. It tried tearing the Captain up with its claws, but he managed to avoid being skewered.

Yusuke switched targets, and instead of aiming at the dragon's face, he shot at its wings. He scored one direct hit, but the ensuing chaos prevented him from capitalising. The sheer racket made by the dragon was overwhelming. It breathed fire in a huge semi-circle around it, forcing Kuwabara to take refuge under the dragon, and it tried to take off. But Yusuke figured he must have done some damage to the leathery wings, and the dragon was a bit slower to take off than usual. It was, in fact, just slow enough for Kuwabara to rush out, grab onto one of the wing's spikes, and get pulled off the ground by the dragon. The outraged roar as the dragon realised its weak point was being targeted again was jarring. Still gaining altitude, it flapped furiously. Kuwabara managed to use the momentum to launch himself towards the spine. As he flew through the air, he stabbed his sword down, puncturing the dragon's wing. With an agonised howl, the dragon stopped using that wing, causing that side to drop, making Kuwabara slide down, dragging the sword with him, all but tearing the dragon's wing in half. The dragon dropped like a stone, still shrieking. Kuwabara landed roughly, but managed to roll to absorb the impact. He hurried over to where Yusuke was, and turned to face what he assumed would be an enraged and in pain dragon.

He was shocked, therefore, when the dragon's writhing form seemed to become wrapped in shadow. The darkness danced around it, starting to hide it from view. Then the dragon itself seemed to dissolve into shadows, until all that was left was a dark mass that moved almost as though it were alive.

"What's happening?" Kuwabara asked, sword at the ready. Yusuke shrugged.

"I have no idea. Is it dying?"

"I ripped up its wing, that shouldn't be enough to kill it."

They fell silent, watching the shadows contort. Then, they seemed to come together, before gradually fading away in wisps. Yusuke and Kuwabara both gasped and took a step back, as the figure of a kneeling human being became visible. As the shadows dissipated, the person raised their head.

He was wearing black – black trousers, black shirt and soft black shoes that seemed designed for stealth. He also had a long, black coat that pooled around him as he knelt. He even had black hair that stood up like flames, although at the front, he had a few white streaks that fell forward onto his face, though not enough to impair his vision. When it caught the light, his hair seemed less black, and almost blue. But perhaps his most noticeable feature was his eyes – they were large, and an unusual red colour that was reminiscent of blood. Most of all, they were full of hatred. His small size, the fact that he was kneeling, combined with his big eyes, gave him a youthful appearance. Younger than any of them. But the harshness in his eyes belied that impression.

In one fluid motion, he got to his feet. He wasn't very tall, they all realised. In fact he was very short. His gravity-defying hair helped somewhat, but that was obviously cheating. He drew his lips back in a snarl, and his hand flew to his hip, making his coat flare out slightly – was Yusuke the only one who thought it looked a little like a dragon flaring its wings? – and drew out a wicked looking katana (and just how had Yusuke failed to notice _that?_ ). He brought it up into a ready position, and dropped down slightly into a fighting stance.

"Don't think this fight is over."

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 **A/N: here we go, thanks again, feel free to drop a review!**


	9. Fire Plane - Part 4

**Disclaimer: this may come as a surprise, but I still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.**

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"Woah woah woah, time out!" Yusuke called, waving his hands. "What the actual hell is going on here?"

"I'm going to kill you, that's what's going on." The man hissed. Kuwabara frowned.

"Hey, you were a dragon before, right?"

The once-dragon met his gaze with unblinking red eyes. "I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and say you're not the brains of this operation." He said sardonically. Yusuke almost laughed, but that would have been inconsiderate.

"By the way, the attack you were using." He said instead, "The black fire? That was the Darkness Flame, wasn't it?"

His opponent's eyebrows raised fractionally. "Not many recognise it immediately." He said carefully. Yusuke shrugged. "I've heard stories. Not many other things it could be, really."

"Uh, Urameshi? What's the Flame of Darkness?" Kuwabara asked, feeling a little lost. Angry red eyes pinned him with a glare, and the katana raised slightly.

"The _Darkness Flame,_ you fool, is a powerful fire attack that uses darkness to maim and kill rather than heat. That's why it's black. The pathetic fire you morons are probably used to is called the Mortal Flame, and it doesn't do nearly as much damage." He snapped.

Yusuke frowned slightly. "It's also very dangerous to the user, since it can easily destroy him as well as the target. Playing with fire, you know." He said. His opponent smirked slightly.

"Only if he's an incompetent idiot. I should warn you, I am not. Now," the man tensed, as though preparing to charge, "if you don't mind, I'm going to slaughter all of you."

"Hold on! How the hell did you turn into a dragon?" Yusuke interrupted.

"I would tell you, but I don't feel like wasting my breath any more on someone who's about to become a corpse." The man hissed. Kuwabara blinked.

"I get the feeling you don't have many friends."

The man smirked, and it was full of malice and anticipation and it made Kuwabara shiver. He chuckled awkwardly.

"You know, when I said ' _almost_ human smart', I meant it in a good way!" He said, rubbing the back of his neck. The look he received in return was so scathing he had to turn away. Yusuke turned to the Captain.

"Hey, Kuwabara? Now that he's not a huge dragon, two on one seems kind of... I don't know, overkill? Would you mind checking on Keiko?" Yusuke asked. When Kuwabara was about to object, probably because he wanted to fight instead, the Spirit Mage interrupted. "That is your duty, right?"

Kuwabara huffed, before nodding. As he jogged away, the short man called after him.

"Don't think you've escaped. I intend to pay you back tenfold for my wing!" Kuwabara cringed a little at that. Then those red eyes turned back to Yusuke.

"You should have kept your friend around. I am no less powerful in this form."

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, if I had to guess I'd say you're probably more dangerous now." He admitted. His opponent's eyebrows raised minutely again, betraying his surprise.

"Oh?" He said boredly.

"Yeah. I mean, this cavern's big, but it's still an enclosed space. And you moved well in it, but you were still a big dragon. Not a good combo, really." The Spirit mage explained.

"And you would still fight me alone?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, I gotta try it, right?" Yusuke said cheerfully. "Although, I do wonder why you used that form at all."

The once-dragon shrugged. "I'm partial to seeing my victims' eyes fill with terror before I kill them." He said casually. Yusuke blinked.

"Wow, you're just a terrible person, aren't you?"

A smirk was his only answer before his opponent charged.

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Keiko, meanwhile, had been watching the scene play out in growing horror. She had watched the pair valiantly take on the dragon, dodging flames and claws and teeth. Then she was distracted by a small voice coming from the bag.

"Yus...uk...e?"

"Botan!" Keiko exclaimed. "You're awake!"

"Uh... whass goin' on?" The fairy slurred, without opening her eyes. Keiko bit her lip.

"Well... we're getting something that will make you better." She said. Botan cracked her eyes open.

"Are Yus... and Kuwa... bara... alright?" Keiko almost smiled, Kuwabara would be thrilled that Botan asked about him, even though the fairy definitely didn't see him as anything more than a friend. But then Botan's eyes widened slightly as she caught the sound of rock shattering, followed by a roar that was impossible to miss. "Keiko?"

"Er..." The princess panicked slightly, not wanting to worry Botan. "Well, they're fighting a dragon just now-" she blurted, but Botan tensed.

"A dragon!" She tried to push herself up, but didn't do a very good job. "I have to help..."

Keiko shook her head. "No, you need to rest. They'll win, you'll see." She tried to infuse her voice with confidence, but she had seen the beast they were facing. Then she saw the dragon fold away into shadows, and the blood drained from her face. "Oh... something's happening." Her jaw dropped. "It's... it's a person!"

Botan blinked sluggishly. "A person?" She murmured, before falling unconscious again. Keiko, meanwhile, was left to listen to the ensuing conversation. She felt her heart-rate accelerate as it became clear that their new opponent – if he could be called that – was no less intent on their destruction now than he had been as a dragon. What he was, now, was human. She felt a slight thrill of hope at the idea that he would now be easier to defeat. That hope was dashed as she overheard Yusuke's little exchange with him. She glanced at the Captain, who was jogging over to her position.

"Kuwabara?" She asked. He just shot her a grim look.

"Urameshi says he's got this." He grunted, not sounding particularly happy about it or a hundred percent convinced. Keiko nodded, and settled in to watch.

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Yusuke was caught off guard almost immediately, when his opponent charged. He was _fast._ Unbelievably so. So fast Yusuke would swear he disappeared from sight for a fraction of a second. Then he was a black blur streaking towards him, with the intent to kill. Yusuke managed to leap back in time to avoid a slash that could have cut him in half. He swore mentally. This guy wasn't messing around, and he wasn't playing anymore. He spun on his heel, bringing his blade around at head level. Yusuke ducked and tried to retaliate with a magic-enfused punch. He had to abort this plan when the katana came back and managed to cut his arm. He swore when he realised his opponent was going to run him through, and jumped back and to the side, meaning that he received a deep scratch, rather than something more fatal. Yusuke had to reluctantly admit that his opponent hadn't been wrong. Incompetent, he was not. It was no wonder he had been able to master the Darkness Flame.

"Wait! Can't we talk?" He yelled. "We don't want to fight, we just want–"

"I don't care!" The shorter man snarled back, resuming his attack. Yusuke had to focus solely on dodging and trying to find an opening, and gave up reasoning with this one. Yusuke suspected that he was nowhere near forgiving them for injuries received when he was a dragon. It was hard, since the shapeshifter clearly knew what he was doing. It was like a dance, a very deadly dance, that he was a master of. Every step he took put him where he needed to be, and it was only battle-honed reflexes that allowed Yusuke to escape with his life. That is not to say he went unharmed: he was getting cut up quite badly. He could already tell that his shirt was not going to salvageable. He managed to blast a magic beam at the black-clad man, making him fly back, but he flipped in mid-air, coat flaps flaring again – yes, that effect was definitely on purpose – and landed in an athletic crouch, before pushing off again almost instantly, katana poised. He deftly sidestepped another blast, and got back into close range. Finally, Yusuke found himself on the ground, about to be stabbed through the chest.

"Do you have a name, at least?" He panted. Cold red eyes met his.

"Hiei." And he drove the sword down.

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 **A/N: Thanks for reading, please review!**


	10. Fire Plane - Part 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Haksuho.**

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Yusuke fully expected to die. He was shocked, therefore, when he heard a sound of alarm, and saw Hiei get tackled by Kuwabara. Hiei growled and elbowed the Captain in the stomach, managing to push him off. Yusuke hurried to his feet.

"I thought you weren't interfering!" He yelled.

"And I though you weren't dying, so I guess we were both wrong!" Kuwabara shouted back. Hiei snarled, but moved so he could keep both of them in his sights. He clearly wasn't one to turn down a challenge.

Keiko's heart was in her mouth. She had fully approved of the ginger man's decision to go and assist the mage. However, she could see that the battle was by no means over. Gathering her courage, she picked up a fallen shard of crystal, and edged closer. She reasoned that there was no need to stay hidden now that he apparently couldn't breathe fire.

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After a few minutes of battling both opponents, Hiei snarled. Truth be told, using his dragon form had tired him out quite a lot, as had the switch from dragon to human. And loath as he was to admit it, his opponent was skilled. And now there were two of them again. He needed to end this. Soon. Then he saw the girl move towards the fight. And his lips curled up in a cruel imitation of a smile, and pulled a long knife from the inside of his coat.

Yusuke's eyes widened as Hiei darted left rather than attack them. He saw a slash of silver, and realised too late that the red-eyed man had switched from a two-handed grip to one-handed, that he now had a second weapon. And that he was going for the third target in the cavern. He yelled incoherently, and moved. Although Hiei was faster than him, he was closer to Keiko, so he reasoned he would be able to intercept. It was close – Hiei's knife flashed towards a frozen Keiko, and Yusuke dove for the smaller man. He barrelled into him, sending him flying. He heard Keiko's gasp, and as soon as he landed, rolling away from Hiei, he glanced back. To his relief, she had only sustained a small cut to her hand. Hiei rolled to his feet, dropped the knife, and slashed again with his katana. He smirked viciously. Yusuke's brows creased in confusion, aware that something just wasn't right, but not knowing what it was until he heard a soft sigh behind him. He spun round.

"Keiko!" He yelled, only to see her crumple to the ground. Kuwabara was by her side in an instant, shaking her shoulders, but she didn't stir. Before Yusuke could do anything else, the barely noticeable displacement of air behind him made him spin to the side, narrowly dodging a strike that would have killed him. He glared furiously into the blood-red eyes of an adversary that he had severely underestimated.

"Poison." He hissed, brown eyes narrowed in fury. Amusement flickered through his opponent's.

"Indeed. But, tell you what." Hiei took a step back, and, without taking his eyes off the Spirit mage, picked up the knife. "This is known as the Shadow Sword. Its blade deals out death, but the antidote is held inside the hilt." He tucked it into his belt. "Defeat me, and you stand a chance of saving the weakling."

Yusuke heard every word the shorter man said, but things like "antidote", "defeat" and "saving" stuck in his mind, ringing in his head, getting louder and louder every time they echoed back to him. And with an enraged shout, he charged. Hiei darted right and avoided the blow, before swiping out with his katana. Yusuke knocked the blade aside, sustaining a minor cut but enjoying the faint look of surprise on Hiei's face. The swordsman leapt backwards, and vanished into the shadows, the darkness of his outfit allowing him to melt away like a ghost. Yusuke looked around frantically. Hiei's stealthiness combined with his speed made him impossible to track, and therefore impossible to predict where he would attack from. Kuwabara looked up desperately.

"Urameshi..."

"I'm trying!" Yusuke growled, spinning left and right, trying to catch a glimpse of movement, the tail of his stupid billowy coat, _anything_ –

And then, he caught it. As he turned, he happened to look into one of the tall stalagmites that could easily serve as mirrors, and saw his opponent rushing towards him from behind, katana poised, triumph already shining in blood red eyes. Without thinking, Yusuke charged his signature magic attack, spun, and fired.

Hiei's eyes widened as his vision was suddenly filled with blue light. He tried to jump out of the way, but he had put too much momentum into his attack and was now committed to it. Yusuke's spirit magic hit him in the chest and sent him flying backwards, smashing through several stalagmites before colliding heavily with a third and sliding to the ground next to it.

Yusuke felt a brief moment of disbelief – had he actually won? Before leaping into action. He was a blur of movement as he made his way over to his fallen opponent and reached for the knife. As he did so, a hand grasped his wrist. Yusuke looked down to see angry, confused and half glazed-over eyes glaring at him.

"How?" Hiei asked weakly, losing consciousness.

"Mirrors, you bastard." Yusuke shot back, before hitting Hiei hard across the temple with the hilt of the knife. Hiei's head and hand dropped back to the ground. As Yusuke ran back towards Keiko, he found that there was indeed a latch in the knife's handle that did contain the antidote. He was momentarily surprised – though he hadn't considered the possibility that Hiei was lying about the cure, it occurred to him now that he really should have. After all, someone like Hiei had no reason to be honest about that. Yet he had been.

Both Yusuke and Kuwabara watched with baited breath after giving Keiko the antidote. Possibilities were flying through Yusuke's mind – maybe it wasn't the real cure, maybe it was another poison, maybe it would kill her faster, or slower, which was worse? Then she opened her eyes.

"Uh... What happened?" She asked slowly, blinking repeatedly to clear her head, which suddenly felt as though it was filled with cotton wool. Had she been hit? She didn't remember. She found herself drawn to Yusuke's warm brown gaze as he looked at her with relief.

"You were poisoned by Hiei, but we got you the antidote." He explained briefly. Keiko blinked.

"Oh." She said, not really knowing what to add. Then she say Hiei's crumpled form. " _Oh."_ Then she paused. "Hiei? You know his name?"

Yusuke grimaced. "Yeah, we had a talk. He's a total jerk though."

Keiko nodded faintly, before sitting up. "So what do we do with him now?" She asked. There was a moment of silence as everyone considered this, before Yusuke spoke up quietly.

"We leave him here."

Kuwabara nodded. "We can't kill him in cold blood. And we sure aren't taking him with us. So we leave him here."

Keiko shivered slightly. "I agree. But I don't like it." She said. Yusuke nodded.

"Trust me Your Majesty, neither do we. But he lost, and I did get to hit him pretty hard there. So that'll have to do." He held out a hand to Keiko, who took it slowly. As he pulled her up, he said "Now come on. Botan needs healing, and I think we just passed the test."

Keiko found herself staring into Yusuke's determined face again. She couldn't avoid admiring the way he was handling the dragon criminal, how he had saved them, how he had saved _her..._

She really owed him a lot. And deep down, underneath all his smug bravado and cockiness, he was a good person. She knew it. She had _seen it._ He would have stabbed Hiei where he lay if he wasn't.

Then the moment passed, and Keiko had picked up Botan's bag, cast her friend a worried look and was hurrying with her friends towards the entrance to the second cave. She racked her brain, trying to think of something that could heal any ailment. As they entered the room, however, none of them were expecting the sight before their eyes.

"A _Portal_..." Keiko gasped, staring at the shimmering, purple-hued space in front of her. Yusuke growled.

" _This_ is what was supposed to heal Botan?" He spun away and fired off a magic attack at the wall. "Dammit!"

Kuwabara stared thoughtfully. "Where does it lead to?"

"Who the hell cares?" Yusuke yelled back. "A Portal isn't going to help us, no matter where it leads to! It could lead to the rainbow Plane, ruled by the king of unicorns and peopled by leprechauns and it wouldn't do us _any good!"_

Keiko stepped in. "Calm down, Yusuke, and _think._ That myth about the healing item must exist for a reason, right? So maybe this _will_ take us somewhere useful, okay?" She said in what she hoped was a firm yet calming voice. Yusuke looked like he really wanted to snap back at her, but eventually subsided.

"Okay then. Let's go." He said blankly. Kuwabara hesitated.

"We don't know what's waiting for us, Urameshi." He warned. Yusuke turned furious eyes on him.

"Who the hell cares, Kuwabara! Botan is _dying._ She needs help, so give her here, and I'll take her through myself, and deal with whatever is there myself, if you two want to stay behind. But I'm not letting one of my friends die because of me, you got that?"

Keiko took a step back, cowed by Yusuke's sudden speech. And she realised that he had been feeling far guiltier about Botan's condition than he had let on. She wanted to say something, anything, to help, but she knew that words wouldn't solve anything. So instead, she turned towards the Portal and took a step forward. And vanished.

Yusuke blinked at the spot which had used to contain the Princess. "Okay then." He said, and leapt after her, closely followed by the Captain of the Guard.

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 **A/N: there we go, the end of the Fire Plane Arc. I hope you enjoyed it, many thanks to readers/reviewers/favouriters/followers. Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	11. Ice Plane - Part 1

**Disclaimer: still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.**

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The first thing that registered was the white. The second was the cold. Keiko looked around, seeing nothing but white all around her – the sky was a slightly different white, but it was still _white –_ and it clicked.

"I don't believe it." She whispered. She turned to her companions, who had arrived behind her. "It's the _Ice Plane._ We found it – the one Portal. We made it to the Ice Plane!" She was almost beside herself with giddy happiness. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked equally awed. Not at the place itself, just at the sheer luck they had stumbled across to find the place. After all, it was deemed all but impossible.

Yusuke shook himself.

"Come on. Botan needs help." He started forwards. Keiko looked at him and frowned.

"So do you, you know."

"Yeah, that pipsqueak sure did a number on you." Kuwabara added. Yusuke chuckled ruefully.

"Yeah, he was good. Scary good." He said, voice dropping. Keiko's brows drew together.

"You were better though. You won." She pointed out. Yusuke shook his head.

"I had no idea he would be visible in the mirror. It was dumb luck. But when he had me... he was good." The Spirit mage said. "I don't know how to explain it, but he wasn't like any other opponent I faced before."

"Well, yeah. How many opponents have you faced that turn into a dragon?" Kuwabara said sensibly. Yusuke laughed.

"Not quite what I meant, but true enough, I guess."

"How did he do that, anyway? Is he a demon?" Keiko asked, a little nervously.

"Not a demon. But I have no clue how he did it. Weird, anyway." Yusuke answered, a little too lightly.

Then, he jogged on ahead a little, and made it to the top of a hill.

"Guys! Over here!" He yelled. They quickly caught up to him, and the general mood lightened considerably. Not too far away was a town of sorts, with some houses made of ice and some of other building materials. Yusuke grinned at his companions, before a slightly confused expression stole over his face and he pitched forward. Kuwabara moved to catch him, and frowned.

"You lost too much blood. Can you walk?"

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, sure. Kind of."

Kuwabara's face adopted the universal look of 'yeah, right' and he slung Yusuke's arm over his shoulders. "Come on Princess. We have to hurry."

Keiko nodded, and together, with Keiko carrying Botan and Kuwabara half carrying Yusuke, the four of them made their way across the snowy plains towards civilisation.

By the time they made it there, Yusuke was on his last legs, and Botan looked worse than ever. They made it to another healer, this time a man who immediately set to work on Yusuke's wounds, promised to fix up Kuwabara as well, but shook his head sadly at Botan.

"I'm afraid her illness is beyond my power to heal. But there are those..." He said, leaning closer, "Those who dwell in the Ice Mountains. They're known as the Ice Maidens. They're the natives to this land."

Keiko blinked. "You mean, you weren't born here?"

He shook his head. "No, I was a member of an expedition that was searching for a famed healing artefact. Is that not why you're here as well?"

"Y-yes, actually."

"Cave in a volcano?" The man asked knowingly. All three of his guests nodded. "Yes, you are in the same situation now that I was in then. Allow me to offer you some information then. This is the one of the towns in the Ice Plane. We humans who live here all came from other Planes, only to find that there is no leaving the Ice Plane."

Yusuke straightened as though he had been electrified. "What do you mean, no leaving?" He demanded.

"You see, young man, the cave you were in has no exit. To return there is pointless. There is one other Portal in the Ice Realm, but those who have gone through have never returned, despite their promises to do so immediately." He paused sadly. "Some of the men to brave it had families here. They would have come back to get them if they could, believe me. So we are stuck here. It's not so bad really. The cold takes some getting used to, it's true, but we hunt and we live, much like we did in our homelands."

The three took a moment to take that in. It was a lot certainly. Yusuke tackled it like he would anything else. Ignore the problems until they're close enough to punch, and then sort it out the old fashioned way.

"The healing item. Did you find it?" He asked, focusing on Botan as a priority. The healer smiled.

"Ah, that we did. You see, let me tell you about the Ice Maidens. They appear as beautiful women, but in fact they are not quite human. You see, they are able to give birth to one daughter in their whole lifetime, without, the, ah, _contribution_ of a man. They appear fair, but in truth their hearts are as cold as the ice they live on. But, have you ever heard of ice crystals?"

Keiko perked up; they were one of the items she needed. "Yes, they're crystals unique to the Ice Plane. They're like ice that never melts, and worth... well, priceless, really."

The man nodded. "Yes, quite true. They are spectacular things. Even more so because an Ice Maiden can use one to heal _anything."_

Yusuke's breath caught. "You mean the healing item is actually these Ice girls and their jewellery?" He asked. The man frowned.

"I suppose. But be warned, the Ice Maidens do not share their craft. Even were you to find them, as I once did, they would not heal your friend. That is why they cut themselves off; they fear being used and taken advantage of. I begged them to teach me, but I was refused. What good is a talent like healing, I asked, if you don't use it to help? They said, 'what good is healing people who will only go on to cause harm?' I stood and argued for hours, but they are heartless and do not trust anyone, especially not men. Please understand." He ranted, before ending on a pleading note.

Yusuke rose to his feet. "Thanks for the help, old man. I'm going to find these Maidens anyway, and I promise I'll find a way to convince them to help Botan. Could we get supplies for the road? Ours were lost."

The man nodded. "I'll arrange a meal for now, and bags to be packed for you within the hour. For now, don't aggravate your injuries."

Not long later, the team was eating their first meal in ages.

"By the way," Kuwabara started, "how did you get past the dragon?"

The healer blinked. "The what?"

"The dragon." Kuwabara repeated patiently. The healer chuckled.

"I can assure you, young man, that there was no dragon when I passed from the Fire Plane to the Ice Plain." He replied. Yusuke looked up.

"Really? What about everyone else?"

The healer's brows drew together. "We all shared the tales of our arrivals here, and there is yet to be any mention of a dragon. Perhaps if you describe it?"

"Trust me, you'd know him if you'd seen him." Kuwabara muttered. Yusuke looked thoughtful.

"So that means that Hiei wasn't responsible for the disappearances of anyone. I wonder if he'd even been down there long." He said. Keiko blinked. She had assumed he was the killer.

"But he was definitely going for us." She argued. Yusuke nodded.

"Yes. Why, though? He must have known the Portal was there. Why would he care if we went through or not? If he wanted a fight, the bottom of a cave under a volcano was a bad place to go. If he wanted to be left alone, picking a fight was a bad call. So what was going through his psychotic little head?" Yusuke wondered aloud. Then he shook his head. "I guess it doesn't matter. We're not going to run into him again."

The healer had been looking vaguely bemused at this conversation, so he left until they had finished. Then he brought them fresh clothes – warm ones, they were not dressed for the weather, and bags packed with supplies.

"Thank you, sir. You are most kind." Keiko said politely. The man smiled a little sadly.

"We rarely get opportunities to help strangers. It is our pleasure, truly." The rest of the party thanked the village as well, and Yusuke moved Botan to Keiko's coat pocket.

"It'll be warmer, and she's safer with you than me." Was all he said as he did so. It meant that Keiko was able to leave the bag – which quite frankly was of terrible taste, much like the woman it came from – behind. Not that she wasn't grateful, she just hadn't liked Ruka. For proper reasons. Not unreasonable ones, like the fact that Yusuke, _and Kuwabara as well of course, she hadn't forgotten him, really,_ had been very taken by her and her... forward wardrobe. That wasn't it at all. Just because she couldn't put her finger on what the problem really was didn't prove anything!

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 **A/N: and so the Ice Plane Arc begins. Thanks again, feel free to review!**


	12. Ice Plane - Part 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

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They walked for an entire day without finding anything. They climbed higher and higher, camped out in a tent provided by the village, and huddled together for warmth by a fire. The next day, something unexpected happened. Kuwabara spotted the Ice Maiden Settlement, much, much further up the mountain, on a dangerous looking outcropping. Keiko's heart fell. It would take days to get there, days Botan didn't have. But then, Yusuke pointed out, not far down the slope, what looked like several tents. They were set up in an orderly way, with several small ones at the back, and a handful of larger ones in front of them. Yusuke frowned.

"The old man didn't mention any settlements this far up the mountain. Why wouldn't he tell us?" He muttered. Keiko raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe he didn't know about this one?" She suggested. Yusuke looked a little startled.

"I suppose." He finally admitted. Keiko's brows creased.

"You don't have much faith in people, do you?" She asked quietly. Yusuke's eyes shot towards her face. He watched her closely for a moment, before shrugging indifferently. It was so him, so _Yusuke,_ and it made Keiko a little sad.

"Guys, we can't get side-tracked. Botan needs to be healed soon." Kuwabara interrupted. Yusuke blinked, and nodded.

"Right. But we won't get up there in time." He said. Keiko bit her lip.

"It's a long shot, but maybe the people down there have... I don't know, a sled or something? Some kind of transport that would be useful here?" She suggested hesitantly, trying not to shiver. Yusuke frowned, but nodded. They were running out of hope. They walked over as quietly and as stealthily as possible. As they neared the closest tent, Yusuke motioned for them to stop and listen. Keiko frowned, as she could just make out the voice of a man. She didn't like to jump to conclusions, but it seemed to her that he sounded unpleasant, and angry.

"What do you mean, not yet? How hard can it possibly be?" The man growled. A second voice answered anxiously.

"Sorry, sir. She just won't cry."

Kuwabara instantly stiffened. "Are they trying to make some girl cry?" He whispered, anger already seeping into his tone. Yusuke gestured for him to shut up, but he was glowering too. Slowly, carefully, he moved on, and his two companions followed as discreetly as they could. Keiko didn't need to ask to see what was running through Yusuke's head. These people seemed unfriendly, so if any transportation was to be acquired, it would be without permission. She also knew that he had no intention of helping this girl, if she even existed, before Botan was saved.

All three stopped as the sound of snow crunching under heavy booted feet was heard. On reflex, Yusuke and Kuwabara both hurried into the nearest tent, dragging Keiko with them. They waited, hardly daring to breathe, until the footsteps passed. Just as they breathed a collective sigh of relief, a voice spoke behind them.

"Who are you?"

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A long way down the mountain, the healer retreated quickly towards him home. A snowstorm had begun, and there was no telling how long it would last. A voice stopped him.

"You there."

He turned around, but was unable to make out more than the vague shape of a man.

"Those travellers. Where did they go?"

The healer was baffled. "The travellers? Listen, you must get inside–"

The sound of metal drawing against a scabbard was heard over the wind, and the healer baulked.

"Th-they went to look for the Ice Maidens! I swear that's all I know!" He said in a rush. After a moment, the shadow turned and walked away. The healer, after a moment to breathe and half reluctantly, called out.

"It's too dangerous to go now! You'll die!"

But he was talking to the wind, and it offered no response.

xxx

They spun round, and Keiko jerked back with surprise. The voice came from a girl, around Keiko's own age, maybe a little younger if she had to guess. She had long, fluffy pale green hair and dark red eyes, and was wearing a pale kimono that did not look warm enough for the weather. She was beautiful, no doubt about it. However, her expression was guarded, almost suspicious, but her body language gave off the impression of indifference. Keiko was reminded of a star – beautiful but distant, unreachable. One look at Kuwabara told her that he saw something else entirely. His lovestruck expression was almost comical.

But what stood out most about the girl was the cage she was standing in.

"Why are you in a cell?" Kuwabara asked instead of answering, expression quickly turning to horrified as he took in her situation. Her eyes narrowed.

"Do you not already know? Do you not work for these foul men?" She said, without any particular inflection. Before Keiko knew what was happening, Kuwabara had drawn his sword and advanced towards the cage. The girl braced herself but did not move away. Her eyes widened visibly, however, when Kuwabara brought the blade down on the lock, breaking it with one hit, before sheathing his sword.

"Is this some trick?" She whispered, not moving forward. Kuwabara smiled, and held out a hand towards her.

"No. I don't know why you're here, but I'm getting you out. Will you come with me?"

She stared at him in shock, displaying the most emotion Keiko had seen from her so far. Slowly, as if she were moving in water, she reached out and placed a pale hand in Kuwabara's large one. As she stepped out of her prison, her arm brushed against the door, and she gasped quietly.

"Are you alright?" Kuwabara asked immediately, radiating concern. She nodded.

"They broke my arm in an attempt to make me cry, but it failed." She said blandly. She seemed taken aback by the sudden rage on Kuwabara's features.

"They–" He reached for his sword again. Yusuke cut in.

"Hey! I'm mad too, but we gotta get Botan healed first!" He said. After a moment of wavering, Kuwabara deflated. The girl watched this play out with a slightly concerned look. Before she could say anything, however, she was pulled after the team. They left the tent, and snuck onwards.

"Do you know if these guys have any transport we could steal?" Yusuke whispered to the girl. She opened her mouth to answer, but a shout behind them cut her off.

"The alarm!" She said. "They came to check on me – they know I'm missing!"

With barely a pause, the group set off in a run. They dashed between tents, but it seemed hopeless. There were far more than it had seemed at first, and the group pursuing them only seemed to get larger. The girl, after a final glance back, wrenched her hand from Kuwabara's grip and darted into a tent.

"What are you doing?" The captain demanded as the group followed her.

"It's pointless. We will be caught." She said quickly. Then she turned to Yusuke. "You said you had a friend in need of healing. Is she nearby?"

Yusuke nodded at Keiko, who carefully lifted Botan from her pocket. The girl blinked, then pulled something from her – mouth? She clasped it between her hands, and a soft white glow began to emanate from them, and engulfed Botan.

"You're an Ice Maiden." Yusuke said, stating the obvious. There was nothing else she could possibly be, with her paleness and cold attitude. She nodded once, but seemed unwilling to distract herself from her task. After a few moments, the glow disappeared, and she put the object – an Ice Crystal, Keiko realised – back in her mouth and swallowed it. Then she rose to her feet.

"Your friend will recover. Those men are seeking to steal the Ice Crystals that are my tears. I will not let them." She said firmly. "It is me they are after. Not you. You three must run to safety. Thank you," She said, a genuine smile lighting up her face, "for trying to save me. Now, go."

"I'm not leaving you here!" Kuwabara said, rising to his feet. The girl shook her head sadly.

"There are many fighters here, but two in particular are incredibly skilled. You cannot fight them. And you are outnumbered." She said gently.

Yusuke met her eyes firmly. "Then we'll come back for you once we know what we're up against."

She looked puzzled for a moment, but then turned away towards the tent entrance. As she reached the flap, Kuwabara's hand stopped her.

"There's one more thing I have to know." He said in a rush. "What's your name?"

For a moment she looked utterly flabbergasted, before a sweet expression stole over her face, making her look quite young and very cute.

"I'm Yukina. Please, stay safe."

With that she hurried away. The three intruders winced as they heard shouts of "there she is!" and "get her!" Kuwabara's expression was made of stone as the footsteps got further away. They were distracted by a small voice from below them.

"What on earth is going on?"

"Botan!" They whispered, quietly but happily, as the fairy slowly opened her eyes. She still looked bad, but better than before.

"You're awake!" Keiko whispered excitedly.

"Bingo." Botan muttered. "Why do I feel so dreadful?"

Yusuke grinned. "Crazy night last night?" He said teasingly. Botan managed something akin to a glare. He chuckled, before resuming a serious expression. "You overused your magic, Botan. By a crazy amount. You only just survived."

She looked a little amazed. "Did I? Wow. This all sounds exciting. When was this?"

"Yesterday." Had it really been so recently? It felt like days. "We're in the Ice Plane –"

Botan's eyes lit up. "The Ice Plane? Really? Amazing! I just don't believe it! I have simply _got_ see it!"

Shushing her quickly, Yusuke explained the situation. Botan's face grew ever more serious as she heard about Yukina the Ice Maiden.

"Well, we just have to save her. How else am I supposed to thank her?"

Yusuke's grin grew mischievous. "Alright then. We need a plan of action, and information on these two fighters of theirs." Botan pulled herself to her feet.

"Lucky for you, gathering information happens to be something a fairy like me is good at! I'll be back in a jiffy!" She fluttered away, movements becoming surer as she went. Keiko watched her go.

"Yukina's healing magic is incredible" She murmured. Kuwabara nodded.

"Everything about her is amazing." He said, in an awed voice. Then he frowned slightly. "Will Botan be okay? I mean, she was dying minutes ago."

Yusuke scowled. "Try stopping her from doing anything she puts her mind to. It's damn near impossible. Best we can do is wait for her to get back. Come on, we should find a better hiding place. They'll realise there were four sets of footsteps eventually."

xxx

A long way down, but drawing nearer, a figure battled his way through the snow and up the mountain. He had made it through the snowstorm with sheer willpower alone, and he wasn't stopping now. Not when she could be in trouble. Not when those bastards were heading for the Ice Maidens. Just like everyone else, to take advantage of them. Now while he couldn't care less about most of them, damned if he was letting them hurt her.

Maybe they wouldn't. He just had to make sure.

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 **A/N: My apologies for the late update, I was away on training camp and didn't have access to the internet. Anyway, I'm back now. Thanks for the reviews, hope you enjoyed!**


	13. Ice Plane - Part 3

**Disclaimer: see previous chapters, this is getting really old.**

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"So, you tried to escape, eh?" The man said, sneering smugly. Yukina kept her face blank and stared straight ahead. The lock on the prison had been replaced, much to her displeasure. But she didn't show it. She was an Ice Maiden, she was cold, she was distant, she was untouchable–

"Now, what about those who helped you?"

She sucked in air. It was hardly a response, but it was more than she had shown so far, and she knew it. _Damn_.

"Did you really think we wouldn't notice the fat that the lock was cut away? Or the footprints? Did you take us for fools, you bitch?"

Her brows lowered slightly. She couldn't help it. Damn them, damn _him,_ for making her feel again. She had gotten so good at the cold-hearted, Ice Maiden attitude, but it was coming crumbling down, and she could feel it.

"You seem a little more excited today than usual. Worried about your little friends?"

And they could see it. They were watching her for weakness, for feelings that they could use to make her cry. She had to give them none. But the situation had changed. She didn't flinch as she was backhanded to the floor. That she could deal with. But deep down, no matter how hard she tried to be a proper Ice Maiden, she always cared. And always hoped. And now it was going to get her in trouble.

xxx

When Botan made her way to their temporary lair outside the camp, she was tired but excited.

"So, the two Yukina was talking about are brothers. One's called Sensui Toguro, and the other's his older brother. I didn't catch a name. She was right, they're dangerous. Toguro's really big, while the other is much smaller, but creepier. But we really have to get Yukina out soon. There's also a lot of guards, but they're not too well trained. Nothing like Koenma's. But anyway, there's also a man that I don't think fights, but he acts in charge. He looks bad, Yusuke. I mean, he's short and quite frankly could stand to lose a few pounds, and he has a huge nose, and he's always smoking one of those dreadful cigars. But the big warrior is the one to watch. He's the hired fists. Do be careful, Yusuke!" She said in almost one breath. Keiko blinked in confusion, but the Spirit mage was used to listening and understanding Botan's long, enthusiastic speeches. He nodded.

"Right. Shouldn't be too hard then. We'll go in, I'll take out the big one, Kuwabara'll take the brother, and then we'll grab Yukina and high-tail it outta here."

"What about all the other guards? What if they attack?"

Yusuke was stumped. "Uh. We deal with those at the same time?" He suggested. Botan frowned. Yusuke huffed. "Who the hell cares? Let's just go. Planning's for losers anyway."

And with that, Yusuke marched into the camp. Botan shook her head, but fluttered after him.

xxx

Yukina clenched her eyes shut. She would not cry, she would not cry, _she would not cry!_ She was an Ice Maiden, and she was not about to put the rest of her kind at risk because she was worried about complete strangers, even though they had been lovely to her and had tried to free her without expecting anything in exchange and he had asked for her _name -_

But she wasn't going to cry. Not even if they got caught, or died, or left her behind here after everything. She was not. Going. To c-

"HEY YOU PANSY ASS WEAKLINGS! COME AND FIGHT ME IF YOU'RE MAN ENOUGH!"

Her heart skipped a beat, and, tears forgotten, she rushed towards the bars of her cage. Because she recognised that voice, it was the stranger with the dark hair–

"Urameshi you bastard, you know that all the real men should come and fight me!"

 _And_ there was the other one, with the rougher voice but kinder eyes. She couldn't believe they would be so... so reckless. Some would say stupid, but Yukina was too nice for that. Besides, the line separating the two was thin at the best of times. Instead, the man she knew was responsible for her capture surged into the tent, fuming.

"This is all your fault, Ice Maiden! But this won't work." He turned to the other occupants of the room. "Well? What are you waiting for? Go and kill those idiots! _Now!_ " The men fled, with the exception of two. "You two better be worth the fortune I paid to hire you." He said, puffing on his cigar. The tallest spoke up.

"Don't worry." He said calmly. "We are."

Yukina silently cursed the bars that prevented her from using her magic. But a small smile curved her lips.

xxx

Yusuke watched as men poured out of tents in response to his challenge. He grinned.  
"Thank you for coming, gentlemen! Shall we begin?" He thumped his fist into his hand. The men faltered, but kept coming. With a roar, Yusuke threw himself into his fight. His opponents were weak – all it took was one punch to knock them down. But before he could take out more than five, a voice halted the battle.

"That's enough."

All eyes turned to face the giant that made his way towards them.

"You are not needed here. Go and protect the boss. Or just go." He said. The men who had previously been attacking Yusuke and Kuwabara slowly backed off, needing no encouragement to abandon this fight. They were not so stupid as to think they could win. Yusuke flashed his trademark cocky smirk at his new opponents.

"Well hello there, fellas. Wanna tag in?" Then he turned to Kuwabara. "Dibs on the big one."

The Captain scowled. "Fine. This time. But next time..."

Yusuke fell into his stance, raised his fists, and allowed a blue aura to surround them. "Yeah, yeah. Let's do this already."

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Yukina gasped as sounds of battle reached her ears. Then a handful of guards swarmed into her tent, glaring at her furiously. She stared back, refusing to be daunted. And she listened in shamelessly on their conversation.

"-we going back?"

"Not a chance! That's what those freaks are here for!"

"All her fault..."

So... where Yusuke and Kuwabara winning? And if so... then for how long?

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Yusuke pushed another beam of spirit magic from his finger, aimed straight at the huge man he was fighting. The bastard dodged it, and came up swinging. Yusuke blocked the attack with his forearm, wincing as the man's fist made impact. He sure could punch, Yusuke decided. Still, the fight was relatively even. Kuwabara's opponent danced away from the Captain's sword, laughing manically as he did so. Kuwabara growled, and darted in for another attack. This one made contact, to his delight. Nothing fatal, but still. Keiko and Botan drew closer, close enough to watch the fight.

"Go Yusuke! You can do it!" Botan cheered, fluttering excitedly. "Come on Kuwabara!"

Yusuke scowled. Because it wasn't possible, _he simply refused to believe,_ that this mutant he was facing could be any harder to beat than Suzaku the Saint Beast. That just wasn't okay. He had almost died in his last fight! It hardly seemed fair that this one was going downhill just as quickly, if not quicker. Then he took a punch (was it really a punch? It felt like he'd been hit with a sledgehammer. That couldn't be natural) and went flying. It was only years of battle training that allowed him to roll and wind up back on his feet, scowl becoming more pronounced. And meanwhile, Kuwabara was just as successful with the small creepy one – that it to say, not very at all. In retrospect, maybe the princess should have hired a whole army to accompany her on this fool's errand. Oh well, they say hindsight is 20/20. Yusuke fired another magic beam, which finally connected. Unfortunately, it hit a wall of muscle so tough, it did limited amounts of damage. Yusuke huffed.

"Oh, come on!" He seethed, leaping forward to attack again.

He sunk into the battle, letting any other thoughts drift from his mind, so that he was perfectly in the moment. His reactions became faster, his hits stronger and more precise. A concentration unlike any he had ever known came over him, and slowly, he started pushing Toguro back. He could see surprise registering in the man-mountain's eyes, and he could also see a faint glow around his hands. _Ah, that explains that._ Toguro had a faint magical ability, that enhanced his strength, endurance and defence, but that didn't allow him to shoot blasts like Yusuke's. At least that cleared up why his punches hurt so damn much.

Soon he had Toguro on the ropes. It was so clear that he was winning, that Keiko and Botan hurried off to find Yukina, so that they wouldn't have to waste time looking for her later.

xxx

The fat man with the cigar barrelled back into Yukina's tent. Her red gaze followed him as he turned to the guards.

"Those useless punks I hired are losing." He said, fuming. Yukina perked up at that. It seemed too good to be true. "I'm getting out of here. Start the timers, and set an ambush. We're blowing the place, and taking out those interfering little pricks. That's an order!"

The guard rushed away to start organizing. The fat man then turned his livid gaze to Yukina. She didn't flinch, though the sight of him was unpleasant enough to make her want to. But she had lasted this long, she wasn't going to lose face now.

"As for you, you like your new friends so much? Then _die with them."_ And he stormed away, leaving Yukina all alone, hoping the group would hurry up – they only had so long.

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 **A/N: next chapter, folks. Hope you like, many thanks for the reviews, see you next time!**


	14. Ice Plane - Part 4

**Disclaimer: yada yada, you know the drill, just check previous chapters.**

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Yusuke spun, driving a kick home and sending Toguro back a few steps. He relentlessly pushed on, using his signature Spirit Gun in the hopes of actually injuring the huge man. Toguro leapt up to dodge the magical blast, but Yusuke was fast enough to leap up and kick him while Toguro was in the air, sending him flying. He landed at an awful angle, and a sickening crack echoed in the snowy landscape. The elder Toguro instantly drew away from his fight with a shriek.

"BROTHER!" He scurried over to the unmoving body of his brother, and shot Yusuke a venomous glare. "You killed him!"

Yusuke, for his part, looked a little astonished. "I… I didn't mean to…"

With surprising speed, the elder Toguro pulled his brother onto his shoulders and darted away. Yusuke was in too much shock to think about following for a while, and by the time he came back to himself it was too late. Besides, they had more important things to worry about.

Kuwabara came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder briefly. "We're in battle." He said, not unkindly. "These things happen."

Yusuke nodded, already aware. "Yeah, I know. C'mon, let's go get Yukina and get outta here."

Just as they started to move, loud explosions sounded around them. Quickly, they both dropped to the ground. However, nothing terrible seemed to happen.

"Preliminary explosions." Yusuke guessed, getting up. "Set around the perimeter of the camp. They're gonna blow this joint."

Kuwabara frowned. "The mountain's going to be shaky after that, we'll be in danger of an avalanche as we go."

Yusuke scowled. "The main path leading out of here will be clear, these mercs are using it to evacuate. Any other route, and we might step on a bomb."

Kuwabara nodded grimly, and they started moving towards the tents. "Seems like a good place to lay an ambush, then."

Yusuke nodded. "The thought had occurred, yeah." He said dryly. Kuwabara ignored him in favour of hurrying forward as he saw Botan waving at them from the flaps of a tent.

Yusuke and Kuwabara burst into the tent, sliding to a halt in front of Yukina's prison. She didn't so much as twitch, just stood with the hands tucked into her sleeves, watching them with a mildly interested look on her face. Her expression changed to something slightly more concerned once she took in their condition.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

Yusuke nodded, from where he was checking for threats outside the tent. Kuwabara drew his blade.

"Stand back Yukina." He warned. He brought his sword down on the lock, damaging it but not breaking it.

"They replaced the old one with a stronger one." Yukina said quietly, still trying not to get her hopes up (a lost cause). Kuwabara's face set into a determined expression, and he raised the sword again. Botan fluttered over to hover in front of the cell.

"I say, thank you for saving my life Yukina!" She said brightly. Yusuke huffed, either in annoyance at her terrible timing or in amusement at it, but he let it go. After one more glance outside, he ducked away from the exit.

"Guys, we have a problem. All the guards, the mercenaries, they're gone." He said. Yukina nodded.

"I was about to say, the fat man with the cigar led them away. He said something about an ambush." She informed them. Yusuke's eyes narrowed.

"Crap. I was hoping we might be wrong." He all but spat. Yukina blinked.

"I heard you fighting earlier. And you won. Will this be a problem?" She asked. Kuwabara's grip on the hilt of his sword tightened, and this swing was stronger than the last. Finally, the lock gave up, snapping and falling to the floor. The door swung open, and Yukina stepped out. Yusuke sighed.

"Before, nah, it wouldn't have been. Now?" He gestured at himself and the Captain. "After that fight, we're running on empty."

Keiko looked worried. "The explosions that went off… Do you suppose they took out the ambush?" She asked. Kuwabara shook his head grimly.

"If it was me, princess, I would box in my targets. Make it so there's only one way outta here. Otherwise, nothing would be stopping us from just going out the back."

Keiko paled. Yukina's hand rose to her throat. "I can't heal you." She whispered. Suddenly all eyes were on her. Closing her eyes and turning away slightly, she raised her hand, displaying a fitted golden band around her wrist. "It's blocking my magic. In case I escaped again. I'm sorry. If I could just heal you, the problem would be solved. I could even help fight. But –"

Kuwabara placed his hand over hers. She breathed in sharply, and turned her eyes up to look at his.

"It's not your fault, Yukina. It's no one's fault. It just is. And we can live with that." She stared, unwilling or unable to break eye contact with him. His grip on her hand tightened a little. She didn't notice, but if she had, she wouldn't have minded. She was too busy being amazed that the guilt that had been threatening to overwhelm her (the guilt an Ice Maiden shouldn't even be able to feel, damn it all!) had receded a little. How did he do that?

Yusuke coughed slightly, and stood up.

"We've got to move. This place is set to blow. I say we take probable death with a chance of taking some of them down with us over certain death here." He said firmly. Kuwabara nodded, and, without letting go of Yukina's hand, moved towards the exit. Yusuke hesitated, meeting Keiko's gaze. The princess tried to hide her fear, but wasn't sure she was doing such a great job. For a moment, Yusuke seemed to struggle. Then he opened his mouth.

"Keiko, listen, I -"

"Come on, Urameshi!"

Yusuke's head snapped around at Kuwabara's voice, and just like that, the moment was gone, and Keiko was left hanging, wondering desperately what he had been about to say.

"Let's go Princess. Come on Botan."

And exactly what she would have done, if he'd said what she'd been hoping he would say.

xxx

As they half walked, half jogged through the snow, Keiko kept an eye on Yusuke. She watched as he focused on his finger, building up magic for his trademark attack, but the result obviously disappointed him, as he dropped his hand and took a few deep breaths. He tried to conceal his worry, but Keiko could tell he wouldn't be able to use his magic to great effect in the upcoming battle. He was also holding his arm too close to his body for it to be natural, and she's noticed Kuwabara's limp as well, though the mere presence of Yukina seemed to be enough to revitalise him. She couldn't help a small almost-smile at that. Kuwabara had always been a hopeless romantic. She was still wondering on that when she walked straight into an unmoving mass. She realised it was Kuwabara just as she registered Yukina's gasp. Yusuke came up next to her and froze as well.

"What the-" He breathed.

Because there was an ambush waiting for them. But it had been ambushed first.

Bodies were strewn across the ground, weapons next to them. Yukina couldn't tear her gaze away. Neither, she dimly realised, could any of her companions. Slowly, as if moving through water, Kuwabara released her hand – and wasn't it sad that she wished he hadn't – and moved towards the nearest corpse. He knelt down next to it.

"A sword." He said hoarsely. "Almost clinical. Just-" He mimed slashing. "No time wasting. Just…" He trailed off. Yukina closed her eyes. Above them, Botan had a hand pressed over her mouth, and moved closer to Yusuke. Yusuke, who glanced up at her, and rallied.

"Come on." He said. When he received no responses, he spoke louder. "Come on! This place is rigged to blow! MOVE!" He grabbed Keiko's hand, gestured to Botan, since she was too high for him to reach, and moved forward. Keiko found herself being dragged through the field of the dead. She shied away, but Yusuke didn't let go, so instead she drew closer to him, let him wrap an arm around her shoulders. Yukina followed on her own, eyes moving solemnly from body to body. Kuwabara drew up the rear. They had made it past the worst, when they came across more.

It was the fat man with the cigar. He was some distance away from the rest, as though he had tried to escape. There was a trail of blood leading to his body, and an expression of pure fear was still frozen on his face. Kuwabara took in the scene, hating his job, because it let him look at scenes like this and know what happened.

"This is different." He said softly. "Whoever killed this one, he didn't like him. He… he stabbed him, and just… let him bleed to death."

Yukina stared for a moment, before bending down gracefully, and sliding her tormentor's eyes closed.

"He was a bad man," she said gently, but calmly, "if he had not died, we would not have escaped. Still, no Ice Maiden relishes death, even that of her enemies. Had I been able to prevent this, I would have." She rose, and took a deep breath. "But I couldn't. None of us could. You must not blame yourselves." She said, meeting every one of her rescuers' gazes. "You could not have saved them." Then, after a beat, "who could have done this?"

Yusuke spoke up, from where he was frowning at the bodies. "Could have been an enemy of his, I suppose."

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a deafening sound behind them. Keiko's eyes widened as she remembered the imminent danger of the bombs, but it was too late. Without needing to confer, the group all turned and dashed away, trying desperately to put as much space between them and the explosion as possible. They were still pushed off their feet, and tumbled a ways down the steep mountain. By the time they finally managed to stop (Yukina a long time before the rest of them – sometimes it pays to be in your own element) they were shivering and felt even worse than before.

"I am so done here!" Yusuke groaned, hauling himself up. "Keiko, grab what you need from this place so we can go!"

Keiko tensed at the mention of her quest, while Yukina looked interested.

"You need something? I thought you were only here seeking help for Botan?"

"We kinda needed both, actually." Yusuke explained. "We were planning on coming here at some point for Keiko's quest, but then the Botan thing happened, and our plans were moved ahead."

Yukina nodded, and turned inquisitive eyes to Keiko. Keiko squirmed a little.

"I – I'm supposed to bring back an Ice Crystal." She said quietly. Yukina's eyes widened. After a moment of tense silence, she procured hers and gazed at it.

"Ice Maidens only have one of these – a gift from our mothers. The only proof to suggest that somewhere, deep down, they can _feel_. We are supposed to be heartless, emotionless. But, if we can cry, then we can't be – not entirely. The only thing that an Ice Maiden will always shed a tear for, the only thing she might _care_ about, even slightly, is her daughter." She murmured, never taking her eyes off the gem. The others exchanged glances – they hadn't know exactly how much the gem meant to the Ice Maiden. Yukina finally ripped her gaze away from it, and extended her hand towards Keiko.

"Here – it is my gift to you."

Keiko was lost for words. "Yukina…"

"You saved me from a fate worse than death – I owe you everything. So, you may have it. Take it with my thanks." The girl said quietly. Her hand shook slightly, the only evidence that what she was doing was hurting her. Keiko froze, and to her surprise, it was Yusuke who stepped in front of her, and gently closed Yukina's hand around the crystal.

"No, Yukina. We cannot accept so great a gift. It is with honour that we accept your gratitude, but such a token must be refused." He said. Keiko stared at the back of his head. She had heard that before, almost word for word. It was court-speak, the kind of thing her father said to visiting nobles, and them to him. She frowned slightly. How on earth did Yusuke know that kind of thing?

"Urameshi's right, for once." Kuwabara said gruffly. "You shouldn't have to give up something so important to you."

Keiko tore her mind away from the puzzle that was Yusuke Urameshi, and nodded with a genuine smile. "We'll find another way to get an Ice Crystal, Yukina. Keep yours."

Yukina looked in awe from face to face, before allowing a rare smile onto her face. "Thank you, my… friends." She said, testing the new word. Then she looked around. "Where are you planning to go next? I may be able to act as a guide."

Yusuke shrugged, and looked at Keiko. "The Air Plane? I mean, that was the original plan, wasn't it? We got a little side-tracked for a bit. Plus, it'll probably be a bit warmer than here." Keiko nodded.

"The Portal is not too far from here. Follow me." The Ice Maiden said. Kuwabara hurried to match her pace.

"So, you made it sound like Ice Maidens are heartless. But, you're not." He said, awkwardly but earnestly.

"I am not a typical Ice Maiden." Yukina admitted, with something like shame in her voice. "I have never been able to… tune my feelings out like the others. They blame my mother."

Kuwabara frowned. "What did she do?"

Yukina met his eyes, a solemn look in her gaze. "She broke our most sacred law." Looking away, she said, voice softening, "she fell in love."

"Love?" Kuwabara repeated. Yukina nodded.

"With a man." Upon seeing her companions' questioning looks, her lips quirked upwards. "For you, it is so normal. For us, it is unthinkable. We sequester ourselves from men, from society, from ourselves. Well, they do. I try. My mother though, she met a man, and ran away with him for a while. When she came back, she was pregnant. It was assumed that this was her daughter, me. But it wasn't. Well, not just me. She had a son as well."

Yusuke's eyebrows shot up. "Woah, there's an Ice Maiden out there's who's a dude? He must get so much shit." He said jokingly. One look at Yukina's face told him she didn't appreciate it.

"My brother was the first child born from two parents in the Ice Maiden village in centuries. Millennia, maybe. We are not human." She met each of her companion's gazes. "We are not human, though we look similar. A union between an Ice Maiden and a human, it creates something that isn't human either. Something strange. It is impossible to predict exactly what. And no one knows exactly what my brother was. But the Ice Maidens believed him to be unnatural. An abomination. Something wrong." She said, anger colouring her last words. "A cursed child."

Kuwabara picked up on something else.

"Was?" He asked gently. Yukina's shoulders tightened.

"He was cast off the side of the mountain." She recounted quietly. "My mother followed not long after."

A terrible silence followed this statement. Eventually Yukina continued.

"My fellows believe them both to have perished. My mother's body was found, but no one looked for my brother. I believe – I _feel_ that he's still alive. That he survived somehow. That maybe the humans found him, and took him in. There are several settlements in the area. They could've-" She cut herself off, and looked at the others.

"You must think I'm crazy."

Kuwabara shook his head.

"No, I could never think such a thing." He said boldly. "And if you think your brother's alive, then maybe he is. No one is more likely to know than you."

Yukina looked surprised, then briefly pleased, before turning her eyes back to the road ahead. The walked for a while, talking about happier things, before Yukina called them to a stop.

"We are here." She said, pointing ahead. When she focused, Keiko could just make out the tell-tale shimmering. Kuwabara turned to their guide.

"Come with us." He said in a rush, before looking shocked at himself. Not as shocked, however, as Yukina.

"I mean, if you want to!" He elaborated, before sighing. "You just, you just don't seem happy here. You're not like the other Ice Maidens, and you shouldn't be. Not when you have such a good heart. You shouldn't have to pretend to be made of ice when you're made of something so much warmer." He said. "I can't promise it'll be safe. Hell, no one's ever been able to leave the Ice Plane and come back, so… there's a good chance we won't, either. But, if you wanted to come with us… you should."

With his piece said, he took a step back to gauge Yukina's reaction. She blinked slowly, and thought about it. Thought about the risk. Thought about what she was leaving behind, and looking into the Captain's eyes, thought about what she might be moving towards. Slowly, she reached out a hand, and he took it.

"I would be honoured to travel with you." She said demurely. Kuwabara looked like he was about to jump for joy. Yusuke rolled his eyes, but good-naturedly.

"Alright then." The Captain turned towards the Portal. "Let's do this."

And he and Yukina led the way to the next Plane.

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Back in the Ice Plane, Toguro sat up and, feeling his brother's gaze on him, turned to look at him.

"I think that went well." He said calmly. His brother nodded.

"Indeed. It is fortuitous that you snapped that branch when you fell. It really helped sell the whole 'death scene'."

"Hm." Toguro nodded thoughtfully. "What did you think of your opponent?"

The Elder Toguro laughed. "Pitiful. He will not last five seconds in our next bout."

Toguro's lips twitched into a smile at that. His brother had always been terrible at recognizing threats, his arrogance leading him to make incorrect assumptions. "Don't underestimate him, brother. He has impressive passion."

The elder Toguro snorted at that, but made no attempt to argue. "What about yours, then?"

The huge man considered. "Impressive, but not good enough to defeat me." He finally concluded. Then he got up. "Come, we must prepare for our departure. Our employer will be here soon."

"And you're sure he has a way to leave this Plane?" The older Toguro asked.

"That's what he says."

The smaller man cackled. "I must say, I like his proposal. I've always wanted to destroy a kingdom."

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 **A/N: longer chapter than usual, but frankly there wasn't a good place to stop anywhere in the middle. Besides, nothing wrong with longer chapters. Anyhoo, thanks for reading and reviewing! This marks the end of the the Ice Plane arc. I hope it didn't disappoint. Tune in next time for the first chapter of the Air Plane Arc!**


	15. Air Plane - Part 1

**Disclaimer: see previous chapters**

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The first thing Keiko noticed was the usual stomach-dropping sensation that came from walking through a Portal. The second was that it wasn't going away. The moment she realised she was free-falling through the air, she screamed.

"Keiko!" Yusuke yelled, as he fell next to her. She looked towards him, frantic, hoping to see him with a gleam in his eyes that spoke of having a plan, but he looked just as panicked as her. The only one who wasn't in danger was Botan, but she was just as freaked out.

"Yusuke!" She screamed, wings fluttering to stay level with him. "Keiko! You need to do something! Come on, please! Captain! Yukina! Can't any of you fly? Please!" She shrieked. Yusuke wrapped a hand around Keiko's arm, but there was nothing else he could do.

"Botan! Can you hold one of us up?" He yelled. Botan's eyes widened comically, and then she tried to get a grip on Keiko's shirt to pull her up. It barely even slowed her down, despite the fairy's very best efforts. Yukina couldn't help but feel that this was just typical.

"Well I think we know why no one ever came back!" Yusuke yelled.

"NOT HELPING!" Kuwabara screamed back. Keiko couldn't help but agree, heart racing as she tried to see a way out, anything. But there was nothing. The ground below them was a long way off, but it was still getting closer. They were all going to die. The question of who she was going to marry was pointless. Her father would forever be left looking out, wondering if today was the day when she would return, only to have his heart broken over and over. She was never going home. She was going to die here.

And no one would ever know.

"Ahoy there!"

Her heart leapt in her chest as she looked around frantically for the new voice. Because she was falling through the air in the middle of nowhere, so a new voice shouldn't be possible. And yet, there he was. She wondered briefly if she was hallucinating, before deciding that her imagination had never been that good.

"HELP US!" She hollered, only to be met with what she would swear was a cheeky grin. A very poorly timed grin. She was in no mood for cheekiness either.

"Oh, sure. I'll get you up. One moment, miss." He said, in an upbeat and heavily accented voice. Next thing Keiko knew, she was on something solid. Trying to gather her wits, she realised it was a sort of vehicle, only it had wings, and didn't seem to be powered by anything. Yusuke joined her, perched on the front, and reached out to pull their other friends on board. Once this was achieved, Keiko felt like she might be able to breathe again.

"Oh thank god. I was so worried!" Botan exclaimed, moving to slump on Yusuke's shoulder in relief. He managed a breathless chuckle.

"Yeah, close one." He turned to their rescuer. "Thanks, man. We owe you."

The man laughed. "Oh, nae. You're lucky I was in the area though. You'd 'a fallen a wee bit too far ta' be gettin' up again, pal." He said cheerfully. Yusuke nodded, risking a look down.

"Yeah, we weren't really expecting it."

"Oh, your day took one o' t'ose turns, eh?" Came the jolly reply.

Keiko got her first good look at their saviour. He had long, flashy red hair, pointy teeth (which she only knew because he was smiling widely all the time) and large ears, but he looked normal. But normal people didn't go around flying and saving people with a laugh and grin. So she was a little confused. But she was still reeling and high on adrenaline, so she figured she would just wait till she got her feet back on solid ground before she asked questions. One look at Kuwabara told her he was having similar thoughts. Yukina was frozen, probably in shock from the many changes to her lifestyle in such a short amount of time. Yusuke was the calmest, since he had one of those daredevil personalities that meant he almost enjoyed life threatening scenarios. And Botan, of course, hadn't been in any physical danger, but thinking she was going to watch her friends die can't have been fun. For now, she seemed happy to stay close to Yusuke.

The rest of the flight took far too long for Keiko. Yusuke (the bastard) seemed to enjoy himself, occasionally leaning over the side and whooping. The Princess was dimly aware that their new companion was talking, but she couldn't hear him over the thudding of her heart. Even when she calmed down a little, the wind in her ears prevented her from making out a single word he said, although she was aware enough to notice (with a small amount of bitterness) that Yukina had relaxed and was gazing at the horizon dreamily. Eventually, after what seemed an eternity but was probably only an hour, she realised they had stopped moving. That they were, in fact, on solid ground.

"Oh thank goodness!" She gasped, happily taking a few steps away from the machine that saved her life. The stranger laughed.

"This is the rock I live on. Welcome!" He said, spreading his arms. Keiko dared to look up, and felt like the ground was dropping away from beneath her feet again.

The 'solid ground' that she was standing on was a huge mass of rock, literally just hanging in the air. She only knew this because she could see others in the distance, like floating islands. It struck her as so unnatural she felt dizzy. Distantly, she could hear someone (probably Kuwabara) throwing up.

"How do you get from one to the other?" Yukina wondered aloud, acclimatising to the situation admirably. The stranger seemed thrilled at the interest – or maybe that was just his usual attitude. It was hard to tell.

"We have things like these!" He exclaimed, patting the front of his winged vehicle. Yusuke gave it a suspicious look.

"Usually they make way more noise when they move."

"Oh you've been here before?" The man asked joyfully. "Aye, usually they do, but mine's broken." He admitted. Keiko's eyes went huge.

"Then how did it fly?" She demanded, horrified even though she was no longer on it.

"Magic, o' course! I'm a Wind mage!" He grinned. Keiko blinked, a little thrown.

"What were you doing all the way out there?" She asked. Yusuke cocked his head.

"He told us that earlier. Weren't you listening?" He said, a teasing glint in his eyes. Keiko scowled at him – he knew how panicked she'd been, the bastard – but the redheaded man just laughed it off.

"No bother! I was out practisin'. Just ridin' the winds, havin' fun, ya know? A bit o' trainin'."

Kuwabara, somewhat recovered, decided to join the conversation. "Jin, maybe you could help us." He said, looking meaningfully at the Princess. Keiko, taking note of their saviour's name, nodded.

"Thank you so much for saving us, Jin." She started politely. "We're actually here looking for an item in particular. An Icarus bird' feather. Do you know where we could find one?"

Jin cocked his head curiously. "You know," he said, "you aren't the first around here to come lookin' for one a' those. Somethin' about a pretty girl and a hand in marriage, aye?"

Keiko blushed, and ducked her head slightly. "Something like that." She muttered, while Yusuke guffawed. She sent him a quick glare, backed up by Kuwabara. Jin seemed amused by their antics, and shrugged light-heartedly.

"Sure, I can point you the same direction I pointed the others." And with that he raised a finger skywards.

"You can't be serious." Keiko said flatly. Jin chuckled merrily.

"'Fraid so." He grinned. "The story goes, some bloke called Icarus flew up close to the sun. These are 'is birds. So you want to find them, you gotta go up there too. To the sun."

"That sounds dangerous." Yukina put in mildly. Jin nodded.

"Aye – but that's what makes it fun!"

Yusuke was grinning too. "Pushing limits, defying death… sounds good to me!" He declared, turning with a grin to Keiko. "So what do you say, your Majesty? Feeling up to the challenge?"

Keiko looked upwards hesitantly. It's funny how people always say 'don't look down', but actually looking up is far worse. But she already knew her answer.

"Yes." She replied faintly. "Yes, let's do this. Let's get the second item."

"Wonderful!" Jin exclaimed. "If you want to get up there, you'll need one o' these." He slapped his hand against his vehicle. "There are always people willing to loan 'em for the right sum o' cash."

Yusuke smirked. "Let's get started then."

They soon found a man willing to lend them his two vehicles for a sum of money that Keiko could pay. The only problem, she soon realised –

"These only have one seat." She pointed out. Yusuke nodded.

"Yep. Jin's did too. Remember the way we were all sprawled on the front and the wings?"

She did. But she was trying hard to forget. "So, do we do that again?" She asked. Yukina shook her head.

"We shouldn't. Jin was a skilled pilot, and a Wind Master no less. He could handle our weights destabilising him, and could compensate by using his magic. We have no such experience or skills." She gestured elegantly to what Keiko was coming to think of as death-traps. "They are meant for one. We would be wise to respect that."

Reluctantly, the princess nodded. "But not many people here accept Water Plane money, and I don't have much more Air Plane money." It was true – before she'd snuck out, she'd... _liberated…_ most of the foreign money her father had outside of the vault. They only reason he'd had it was because he was royalty – which is why she'd been doubly surprised when Yusuke had helped pay for the vehicles. She wondered if perhaps he was a thief, and that's what got him into trouble at home – but that didn't quite fit with everything else. So she stored away the information for later.

Then Yusuke was pointing out the controls, all with a careless grin that Keiko both feared and envied. And then she was looking somewhat desperately at her Captain, who despite everything wanted to be the one going instead. And at the Ice Maiden by his side, who had that emotionless expression that she always wore when she was carefully not feeling anything. Yusuke convinced Botan to say behind, worried that she wouldn't do well in the thin atmosphere.

And then she was pressing her foot down, the vehicle she was in roared to life, she shrieked, and she was soaring away from solid ground again. Yusuke was whooping and laughing next to her, and she briefly wished she could punch him in the face. Then she refocused.

 _I get that feather, I get back down._ She thought to herself. Remembering Yusuke's advice, she pulled a lever, and started to rise vertically. She was vaguely aware of Yusuke practising a loop-the-loop. She tuned him out. She rose higher and higher. The air, already thin, got thinner. The clouds got further and further beneath her. And the sun got closer.

"Keiko!" Yusuke called. "Jin never finished the story!"

Keiko glanced in his direction. "What?" She screamed. "Why should we care?"

"Because Icarus died!" At that, Keiko gave him her attention. "He got too close! He fell!"

"And you're only just mentioning this now?!" Keiko yelled shrilly. Yusuke shrugged.

"You would still have wanted to go!"

Keiko snarled at that. Because no, she did not want to be here. But he wasn't wrong, she probably _would_ still be here. So she pressed her foot down harder, and overtook her companion. She couldn't see it, but Yusuke shook his head with a rueful grin, and set off after her.

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 **A/N: thanks to everyone for the continued support! Feel free to drop a review!**


	16. Air Plane - Part 2

**Disclaimer: To the surprise of no one, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.**

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They went higher and higher. Keiko could feel the oxygen getting thin, and suddenly she was glad for Yusuke's confidence.  
"Your Majesty!" He yelled excitedly. "There!"

Squinting, she tried to see what he could see. That is, without being blinded. They were too high up now. Too close to the sun.

Right where they needed to be.

With a start, Keiko spotted what Yusuke was pointing at. Dots, higher up and to their left. Moving dots. With a grin, one she didn't think she'd be able to pull off given the circumstances, she veered off towards them. Yusuke followed suit, flashing her a thumbs up as he passed her. She didn't dare let go to return it, so she afforded him a small nod.

The dots were getting bigger now. Keiko flew through a wispy cloud, and then she was close enough to see their distinguishing features. They were big birds, with golden wings that glinted harshly in the bright sunlight. There were about twenty of them, swooping around each other. Keiko wondered what they ate up here, and briefly fancied that all they needed to survive was freedom and the feeling of wind under their feathers. Much like Jin, they were creatures of the sky, born to fly. For no other reason than it was fun and they could.

Then she shook herself and brought her mind back to the matter at hand.

The two travellers soon realised there was a problem. The birds were beginning to notice them. And they didn't seem happy. A loud, shrill squawking started, that got angrier the closer they got. Yusuke sent Keiko a wary look.

"Your Highness? You might wanna turn back!" He warned.

Keiko shook her head determinedly. She had, after all, come this far. Then an Icarus bird swooped towards her. With a shriek, she swerved right, but its wing still brushed her cheek, cutting her skin, revealing the feathers they were seeking to be deadly sharp. She turned to warn Yusuke, but he was surrounded, and undoubtedly already knew.

Yusuke cursed as he coated his arms with Spirit magic and raised them to cover his face. It helped, but only marginally. In addition to having dagger-like feathers, the creatures also had strong, sharp beaks that they used quite liberally.

"Could have… warned us, Jin." Yusuke muttered, "Spirit gun!" He blasted off his signature attack, forcing the birds to retreat momentarily, allowing him to put some distance between him and them. He set off in a risky series of moves to stay away from the birds, flipping and turning like mad. It helped that he had practised on the flight up. Keiko, he saw, had no such advantage, and her piloting skills were rudimentary at best. With an internal curse, he aimed for the cluster of birds on her tail, ploughing through them and attracting their attention.

"Keiko!" He yelled, "Get the feather!"

"Right!" She replied in a panicky voice. Now that all the birds were pursuing Yusuke, she was mostly free to act. But she had no idea what to do.

"Now, Keiko!" Yusuke shouted, as a feather cut a deep gouge in his shoulder. With a small panicky noise, Keiko ripped off her jacket, being forced to let go out the controls for a terrifying moment, and wrapped her hands in her sleeves, like oven mitts. Then, steeling herself, she leaned out – precariously far – and grabbed an Icarus bird.

Yusuke watched her out of the corner of his eye. When he realised what her plan was, he quickly realised he would have to do something drastic to keep the birds on him. He slammed the brakes on, and pulled the vehicle up so it flipped over itself – right into the mass of birds that was behind him. He felt their feathers cut through his clothes and skin, saw the frantic flutter of gold as the Icarus birds tried to get out the way, and felt himself get dislodged from his seat.

Keiko grappled with the furious animal for a few seconds, before it escaped. As it did so, she saw a single feather get pulled free. Desperately, she pulled her hand free of her jacket and reached for it. Her fingers closed around it, and she held it tight, uncaring of the way it cut into her palm.

"Yusuke, I got it!" She cried, delighted, turning towards the Spirit mage just in time to see his hand lose its purchase on the flying vehicle, and to see him fall towards the distant ground.

"Yusuke!" Keiko shrieked, shoving the feather into her pocket, letting her jacket fall away, and diving after him.

Yusuke spread his arms and legs hoping to slow himself down. He flipped over and saw a frantic Keiko heading towards him, clearly hoping to catch and save him. He could also see the huge flock of killer birds bearing down on her. They were swiftly catching up, too.

"Behind you!" He shouted. Keiko risked a look behind, and then tried to speed up. But the birds were faster, they were going to kill her unless she started evasive manoeuvres. She apparently read the look in his eyes because he saw her shake her head wildly.

"No! No, Yusuke! I won't let you go! I won't!"

Was it just the wind in her eyes, or was she crying? He couldn't tell. "You have to! Keiko, you'll die!" He screamed back, wishing he could do something other than just fall. His heart was racing, demanding that he take action. But he couldn't. He was stuck in free fall, and Keiko was surrounded by wings of gold, and he heard her scream–

And heard a deafening bang that scattered the birds, revealing a shaken but alive Keiko. She looked at something Yusuke couldn't see, and a look resembling relief washed over her face.

"We should stop meetin' like this, Yusuke!" A cheerful voice called, and Yusuke let a relieved grin cross his features.

"What can I say, it must be fate!" He yelled back. Then he watched as four more flying vehicles appeared, and their pilots started throwing what at first appeared to be bombs, but all they seemed to do was make a very loud noise.

Seeing the look on his face, Jin felt compelled to explain. "It's silent up here almost all the time. Icarus birds don't like loud bangs."

Yusuke nodded, and then gave his new friend a glare. "Are you planning on catching me ever?"

Jin shrugged playfully. "You don't seem that concerned." He pointed out. Yusuke smirked.

"That's 'cause we're really far from the ground. I have time. But if you wouldn't mind…"

With a grin, Jin manoeuvred his vehicle underneath Yusuke so the Spirit mage was sitting on a wing.

"Nice." Yusuke said approvingly. Then the other five vehicles drew level with them, Keiko in one, and the four strangers in the others. Jin grinned.

"These are my friends: Risho, Bakken, Gama and Touya." He said, pointing at each in turn. Touya, a stern looking young man with silver hair and green streaks framing one side of his face, held out Keiko's jacket towards her.

"You dropped this." He said flatly. Keiko hesitantly took it, and examined it.

"It's torn to shreds." She pointed out. Touya shrugged. After a moment, Keiko did too. "Thank you anyway."

"We call ourselves Team Masho." Jin said proudly.

"No one calls us that." Touya deadpanned, while Yusuke snorted.

"You sure these guys are your friends, Jin? They're a fair bit more serious than you." He said teasingly.

"Hey!" Jin said, driving Yusuke's point home by failing miserably at pulling off insulted, and still grinning. "You can fight and have fun, ya' know."

Yusuke smirked. "Preaching to the converted on that one, pal."

Keiko followed their conversation for a while, but soon tuned them out, checking instead that she still had the feather. To her delight, she did. Carefully, using her jacket again, she held onto it to make sure she didn't lose it.

When they finally landed, the rest of their party was waiting anxiously, and was understandably horrified at their condition. Yukina looked guilty at not being able to help, what with the magic suppressing bracelet still being stuck on her wrist. Kuwabara insisted on making sure his princess was alright, and then they all admired the beautiful feather. Beautiful, but deadly. Reverently, Keiko ripped off her jacket's sleeve – an easy task, considering the state it was in – wrapped the feather in it, and stuffed it into her pouch. Then, she pulled the remains of her jacket on.

"So what are ya goin' to do now?" Jin asked.

"Food." Yusuke answered, just as Kuwabara blurted "sleep." This led to glaring between the two, before Keiko jumped in. "Food, then sleep. Then, we're headed to the Earth Plane. As soon as we find a Portal."

Jin perked up. "You know, Risho's actually an Earth mage from the Earth Plane. Risho, you could take them to the Portal you used to get here." He said. Risho looked petulant, but nodded. Jin grinned.

"Perfect! Then we'll meet you here tomorro' so you can get on with your quest."

Relieved, Keiko nodded, and their party set off to find an inn of some description. The rest was both needed and deserved. As they left, however, Yusuke took hold of her wrist.

"Hey, a word?"

She stopped, surprised and nodded. Then, she realised he had that serious look in his eyes.

"Never, and I mean _never,_ risk you life for me like that again, you hear?" Yusuke said, meeting her gaze sharply. "Seriously, I had ages until I hit the ground, and you could have _died._ You _would_ have died if it hadn't been for Jin and his friends!"

Keiko was taken aback, and then bristled. "This coming from the one who risks his life to save his friends all the time!" She shot back, startling herself a little when she realised how true her statement was. Really, how often had he put himself between them and danger? More than she would have liked, really.

"Well it's fine when I do it!" Yusuke exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Keiko raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I _live_ for danger and risk! But I couldn't take it if _you_ were to die!"

That stopped Keiko short. And before she really knew what she was doing, she was hugging him.

Then she pulled back, flustered, muttering about how it had been a long day, and she was still high on adrenaline because of all the flying and falling and near-death experiences, and he was still staring at her and she _wished_ she knew what he was thinking so before she could do something stupid that would mess up the team dynamics, she turned tail and ran after the others.

After all, if she stayed, there was a good chance that she would have kissed him.

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 **A/N: that's the end of the Air Plane arc. Hope you enjoyed, coming up next is the Earth Plane arc, featuring my personal favourite characters! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. See you next time!**


	17. Earth Plane - Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.**

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The next morning, they set off to find the Portal. During the trip, Keiko was overjoyed. She had finally found another item – that made two out of six. For now, she was able to forget that finding an Ice Crystal was going to be next to impossible, since even if they went back to the Ice Plane, they were never going to find an Ice Maiden who wasn't attached to hers. It seemed like these crystals were the one piece of emotion that they allowed themselves to feel. They wouldn't give it up easily, and really, they shouldn't have to. Which was the only reason Keiko had agreed to leave the Ice Plane in the first place. Staying was pointless. Even in death, Yukina had told her, Ice Maidens were buried with their crystals, and it was considered terrible if they weren't. She would have better luck trying to find one in other Planes.

And then there was the Demon Lord's hair. She didn't like to think that they would one day have to fight any demons, let alone a Lord. She briefly tried to imagine what a demon lord would look like. A ghastly image filled her mind, with dark, rolling eyes, fangs, a deformed body, black lips and a cruel smile. Maybe red, scarred skin. She shuddered. No, for now she would focus on their latest victory.

When they reached their destination, Risho nodded a farewell and disappeared. Jin was more enthusiastic. He and Yusuke, who got on particularly well, exchanged a manly handshake and mischievous grins. To the rest the Wind Mage just waved and wished luck on their quest. And with that, the team moved on through the Portal to their next adventure.

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When Keiko got her bearings, she let out a sigh of relief. Her surroundings, while nothing like her home, were not as shocking as she was coming to expect the other Planes to be. If the Spirit Plane had been odd, the Fire Plane horrifying, the Ice Plane uncomfortable, and the Air Plane disorientating, then this was just different. Not even unpleasant different. Just new. They had stepped into a forest, sunlight filtering through the trees, and a pleasant scent in the air. Yukina spun around, taken off guard by the sheer life in this Plane. It was a stark different from the barren glacier she hailed from.

The group realised that unlike the other Portals they had used, this one was not a distance away from civilisation. They seemed to be in a series of clearings, with a number of wooden huts dotted around them. There were people milling about, as well. Some children were playing with butterflies near the edge of this clearing, and the distant sound of cutting wood could be heard. People walked past, nodding pleasantly as they went. Keiko figured that travelling must not be as unusual here as in the other Planes. It wasn't that surprising.

"It's nice that we landed in a village this time." Kuwabara said.

"Uh, guys?" Yusuke interrupted. "I don't think we did." The others glanced at him worriedly, only to find him staring up. Copying him, Keiko gasped. The trees, easily a hundred meters tall, were supporting huge tree houses, all linked together with wide bridges. They were in almost all the trees that Keiko could see, and she wondered how many people could live in them.

"I think this is a city." Yusuke finished.

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They climbed into the trees, since that seemed to be where the most life was. The height might have been daunting, if they hadn't come straight from the Air Plane. As it was, the structures felt solid, and truthfully the whole place was far too beautiful to have height detract from its marvel. The green was the most vibrant Keiko had ever seen, and flowers blossomed all over. Yukina was entranced by the birds that seemed to be everywhere. She stopped to watch them with a soft smile, and sent the rest of the group on ahead with a promise to join them later. The others carried on, passing more people than they had seen in a long time, and eventually stopped in a tavern. They ordered food, and once done, turned to a group of locals.

"Hello." Keiko began, "I was hoping you could help us."

After explaining the very basics of their quest, the locals exchanged furtive glances.

"Well," one man said hesitantly. "Best of luck, I mean, that flower is very rare. Almost extinct. I have no idea where you could find one of them."

"But, there is someone who might." Another interjected.

"Who?" Keiko pressed, when she saw them swap more looks.

"The Druid King." A woman whispered, as though she were saying a forbidden word. Upon seeing the confused looks of the travellers, she sighed.

"He's the world's most powerful Earth Mage. No one's ever seen him, but when there's serious trouble, he sends his envoy, a silver fox, and brings us healing plants. Or he comes during the night, and cures ailing trees or rebuilds our houses."

"Sounds mysterious." Yusuke said, quirking a grin.

"Sounds like a nice enough guy." Kuwabara said, somewhat hesitantly. He knew better than to trust rumours, especially good ones.

"Powerful _and_ benevolent. Just the man we need." Yusuke agreed.

"Hold on now." A man interrupted, looking worried. "He does good things, but we've never asked anything of him. We don't want to offend him or make him feel taken advantage of."

Yusuke shot the man a smirk. "No worries, we won't piss him off. We just need directions to this super-flower, and we'll be on our way."

The locals did not look reassured. The woman sniffed.

"Well, we don't know where he lives anyway. All we know is that the fox comes from the deepest part of the forest which happens to cover half the Plane." She shot Yusuke a hard look. "So good luck to you."

Keiko sighed. "Well, it's somewhere to start. Come on. We need to replenish our supplies, and pick up Yukina."

It didn't take long to get that done, and then they were setting off into the woods. Soon the trees began to grow closer together, and the light filtering through the leaves began sparser. Still, the air was warm, and birds were still singing, so no one was too worried. Overall, it wasn't an unpleasant way to spend time. They walked further. The remaining light started to fade as the sun set. Birdsong ceased as night approached, and the forest gained a slightly more ominous air. They kept walking until the only light was the silver moonlight, illuminating their path slightly. Keiko sighed dejectedly.

"It's not use. We have no idea where we're going, and we're not going to find him like this. We might not even find him at all! And I can barely see–" She was cut off as she tripped over a root. She regained her footing, but it did nothing for her mood. She stopped, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, trying to contain her emotions.

"Uh, Princess?" Kuwabara said. "Do you see that too?"

"See wha- Oh."

Emerged from the bushes ahead was a fox. But its pelt was silver, and seemed almost to give off wisps of light. It looked at them intelligently, and flicked its – _five_ tails. The group stared in amazement, with the exception of Yusuke who grinned.

"A spirit fox!" He said excitedly. "Like the one the Druid King sends. Guys, I don't think we need to find him. I think he's found us!"

The fox leapt around and bounded away from them. As one, the group gave chase. Fortunately, the fox seemed willing to wait for them, as sometimes they made slow progress. But they kept going, following the swish of five elegant tails as it disappeared behind a tree, only to find it waiting further away, almost out of sight. And whenever they got nearer to it, it would mockingly leap away, vanishing, before reappearing again.

"Anyone… feel… like it's… making fun of us?" Kuwabara huffed, as the fox led them past a tree he was sure they'd seen before.

"Like it's laughing at us." Yusuke agreed, growing impatient. But before anyone could do anything drastic, they emerged into a clearing.

"Oh… my." Keiko whispered. A lake was off to the side that shone like a mirror in the moonlight. The clearing itself was lit up with fireflies, and dotted with flowers. And in the centre of the clearing, was a house. A large, three storey house. The walls were made of trees growing together, flowers spilled out of windows, and the roof was covered with foliage. It was like stepping into a fairy tale. And, smug as anything, the fox stood on the doorstep. With a lazy flick of its tails, it nimbly leaped inside, the door swinging open; a silent invitation.

With a shrug and a smirk, Yusuke headed forwards, Kuwabara on his heels. The group went forward and cautiously went into the house.

Inside, the rooms were lit up by what looked like bright fires in jars. They were dotted around the room, casting a warm glow over the furniture. There were comfortable looking chairs, as well as a table and what looked like a kitchen. Yusuke gave a low whistle.

"This Druid King or whatever has a nice set-up." He said appreciatively.

"My thanks." Came a politely amused voice.

The others gasped and spun to see the new arrival, the Druid King, as he stepped out of the shadows. Keiko stared, wide-eyed. The title 'Druid King' had led her to expect an old, wizened man with a long grey beard, wise, serious eyes and a stern countenance. What she got was an effeminate young man with long red hair that settled over his shoulders, twinkling green eyes and a pleasant expression. The difference was enough to make her wonder if this was in fact the Druid King or maybe just some boy who lived here.

It was the spirit fox who sold it. It bounded lightly over to the young man, coming to a stop expectantly at his feet. The redhead laughed slightly, rubbed his hand over the fox's ears, and said, "Thank you, Yoko. I will summon you later." With that, he waved his hand, and the fox disappeared, blowing away as though it were smoke. The Druid King looked up and favoured them with a smile.

"I do hope Yoko did not lead you on too troublesome a path. He may obey me, but he is still a fox, and by nature a trickster." He explained. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kurama."

Keiko blinked, then swept a curtsy. King or not, she could be polite. "A pleasure. I am Keiko, and these are Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan and Yukina."

"The pleasure's mine, I assure you." Kurama said, still maintaining his pleasant demeanour.

"What's with the spirit fox?" Yusuke asked bluntly.

"His name is Yoko, and he is my spirit companion. He is not strong enough to maintain corporeal form, you see, but as an Earth Mage, I have a strong connection with the earth. Since he does too, I am able to summon him."

"You must be pretty powerful then." Yusuke said, eyeing him critically. Kurama nodded once, not out of arrogance, just acceptance of a truth.

"Wait." Kuwabara interrupted. "You're the Druid King?"

To their collective surprise, Kurama reddened slightly. "I do wish they'd stop calling me that." He muttered. "Druids don't even have kings."

Then, a new but unfortunately familiar voice cut in. "It's not that far off your old name, Kurama."

"HIEI!" Yusuke yelled, charging his Spirit gun, while Kuwabara's sword rang out as he drew it from its sheath. Both their attacks were curtailed, however, when vines sprouted from the wall, wrapping themselves around the warriors' wrists, forcing their arms down.

"There will be no fighting in my home." Kurama said, voice growing cold. Keiko was struck by how quietly threatening he seemed in that moment. Yusuke was not.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He screamed at the Earth Mage, while gesturing at Hiei, who hadn't moved from his lounging position in the window. "If you knew what he's done! He's a murderer!"

"I know enough." Kurama interrupted. "And there will be no battles here. My house is a place of peace."

The Fire Mage shot Yusuke and Kuwabara a contemptuous glance from where he was reclining. Yusuke glared fiercely back, before casting an angry look at Kurama.

"You know this guy?" He demanded.

"Hiei and I are old frien-" He stopped himself, considered for a moment, before smoothly continuing. "Hiei and I have known each other for a long time." From the snort from Hiei's direction and the slight upward tilt of his lips, Keiko decided that the Fire Mage liked the second version better.

"And why aren't _you_ attacking us?" Yusuke asked Hiei challengingly. Hiei raised an eyebrow, before looking away carelessly.

"You heard him. His house, and all that." Hiei drawled.

"And you just let him boss you around."

Hiei's gaze swung back to the Spirit Mage. "If I wanted to fight you, I would. But there are times when I require his expertise, so I'm willing to let this one go." He answered with a growl.

"What kind of expertise?" Yukina asked curiously. Strangely, Hiei straightened at the sound of her voice, and swung off his perch to enter the room fully. The others tensed, but Yukina met his gaze for a moment. Then Hiei looked away with a huff.

"Ah, this is difficult to explain." Kurama said, cutting through the building tension easily. "In my younger days, I took part in activities of… a criminal nature."

Hiei snorted. "You were a thief, and a good one."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "I admit, I did make a successful living out of stealing."

"They called you the Legendary Bandit."

"Wait, _you're_ the Legendary Bandit?" Yusuke asked sharply. "You stole my- you stole the Demon King's crown!"

"Yes. Yes I did." Kurama acknowledged. "That was particularly thrilling. But," he went on, seeing the mistrust building in his guests' eyes, "that was all before. I've renounced my life as a thief."

"Oh yeah? Why?" Kuwabara challenged. Kurama sighed.

"My mother became sick." He explained. "I came home to look after her." Upon seeing the disbelieving looks of his visitors, he rolled his eyes. "I was a thief, not a monster. I love my mother. And when I was staying with her, I just…"

"He had an attack of conscience, and became stupid." Hiei finished disparagingly. Kurama sighed tiredly, but there was a degree of affectionate exasperation in the sound.

"To you, I suppose I did." He acknowledged. He turned back to the others. "I could no longer look her in the eyes knowing how she would feel if she knew the truth. So I set up a base here, and I help the people in nearby cities and towns, to make up for my past."

Yusuke frowned, something Kurama said earlier finally registering in his mind. "Your younger days? You can't be any older than me. When exactly did you stop stealing?" After a moment, he went on. "Actually, when did you _start_ stealing?"

"I started when I was very young. And I quit about six months ago."

There was a heavy silence. "You mean to tell me," Yusuke started deliberately, "that your clean streak has lasted just _six months?_ "

Kurama nodded pleasantly. "It's been going very well so far." Yusuke and Kuwabara stared, trying to figure out if he was making fun of them, before Yusuke finally shrugged.

"Okay. And how do you know him?" He asked suspiciously, jerking his head towards Hiei. Kurama met his gaze calmly.

"We worked together on some jobs here and there. Usually the ones with extra security." He explained. Yusuke turned to glare at the Fire Mage.

"So you're a thief too." He accused. Hiei snorted.

"Please. I'm a mercenary. I do a lot of things."

"Including kil-"

"Enough!" Kurama interrupted. "You will not do _this_ in my house either. _Peace._ It means more than just not hitting each other." He said warningly. "My house is a refuge. For whoever I choose to let in. Right now, that means _all of you."_ His point made, and clearly understood if the shuffling of feet was to be interpreted correctly, as well as Hiei's disdainful sniff, he went to make tea.

Hiei's eye was caught by the glimmer of gold on Yukina's arm.

"That bracelet." He said suddenly, catching everyone off guard. Then he seemed to hesitate, so Yukina stepped in.

"It cuts off my magic." She said quietly. "I cannot heal or control ice as long as this is on me."

"You should take it off." Hiei said, for once without malevolence in his voice or expression. Just guardedness. Yukina nodded.

"I would, but I cannot."

Hiei's eyebrows drew closer together, before he followed after Kurama without another word. When the Earth Mage returned with cups for everyone and Hiei in tow, he took a look at the bracelet.

"I have seen something like this before." He said. "It can be removed, but not by me. Spirit Magic would be most efficient. Preferably someone with a high degree of control. And as soon as possible, it is not good to be cut off from oneself for too long."

Kuwabara looked like he was about to argue, but he deflated. Yusuke looked from him to Yukina.

"Granny could probably do it. She's awesome at this kind of thing." He suggested.

"I could take her back." Botan offered. Everyone jumped – she had been so quiet lately, it was easy to forget about her. She gave a small smile. "I've been away from the Spirit Plane for too long anyway – my own magic's starting to drain." It was true – she looked paler than usual. "Once in the Spirit Plane, I can recharge and take Yukina to Genkai's."

Yukina looked at the worried faces of her companions, before ducking her head. "I am of no use to you like this – I will only get in the way. I will go to this Genkai." She said softly.

Kurama nodded, and with a wave of his hand, Yoko formed back into being, like smoke coalescing. "Yoko will guide you to the nearest Portal. I wish you safe travels."

After a few minutes of farewells, including an emotional speech from Kuwabara that mostly went over Yukina's head, the two non-humans left, their part in the adventure over, for now.

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 **A/N: And the gang's together! Hope you all enjoyed, many thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/followed/favourited! Until next time!**


	18. Earth Plane - Part 2

**Disclaimer: see previous chapters.**

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Hiei watched them leave, before starting out himself. Yusuke was about to yell after him, but Kurama stopped him.

"Let him go. He does things like this; he won't harm your friends." As an afterthought, he added, "you get used to him."

Yusuke snorted. "That is one thing that I'm never going to do, thanks."

Kurama raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Oh? And what did Hiei do to set you against him so?"

Kuwabara choked on his tea. "What did the shrimp do? Well for starters, he tried to _kill us. To burn us alive._ Then he tried to stab us to death."

"Then he poisoned Keiko." Yusuke interjected, voice low.

Kurama blinked, then sighed. "That sounds like a lot, even for Hiei. I wonder what his reasoning was."

"Does that psycho ever have a reason for anything?" Yusuke muttered.

"Yes, actually." Kurama said, not unpleasantly. Seeing he had his companions' interest, he elaborated. "Hiei follows his own set of rules, his own moral code, which is incomprehensible to everyone else. Usually, though all might not agree with him, he does have justification, in his own eyes at least."

Yusuke frowned. "How could he possibly justify targeting a non-combatant like Keiko?"

The Princess blushed slightly at being the centre of attention in this way. Kurama hummed non-committedly.

"It's hard to say. Like I said, no one quite understands Hiei, not even me. If I had to guess though, I'd say that to him, if she was on the battlefield, then she was a target. Fair play, as it were."

Kuwabara stood up and gestured at Keiko. "Are you kidding? Look at her! She's hardly a threat to him!"

"Thank you, Captain." Keiko muttered, blushing harder.

Kurama met Kuwabara's gaze, remaining nonplussed. "But if she had had the opportunity to wound him, then she would have taken it. She was on the opposite side. An enemy." He sighed. "They're Hiei's rules, I might be wrong. But you also might want to try and understand the kind of person he is. So that you don't all destroy my house or my forest while you're here."

"He's a merc. Anything for money." Yusuke said, a small amount of disgust in his voice. Again, Kurama sighed.

"Not anything. He has a sort of moral code. He has _limits._ Just not necessarily the same ones as you. His rules are dictated by the life he has led and the lengths he has been forced to take in order to survive."

"There's always another way. And you can't blame your past for everything." Kuwabara said sternly. Kurama nodded.

"True. But – look, Hiei's past. You are aware that he's a Fire mage?"

"Yeah, the fire and the dragon thing sort of gave it away. You know, as he tried to slaughter us." Yusuke drawled.

Kurama nodded thoughtfully. "Are you also aware that he is not native to the Fire Plane?"

That replaced the look on Yusuke's face with one of discomfort quickly. "Oh."

Keiko frowned. "What's the big deal?"

"You get treated like serious shit by most people when you're a mage for a different element than the one you're born into. It's like you'll never belong anywhere, that you're something different, something wrong. Not good." Yusuke explained.

"It is worse for those born with fire." Kurama elaborated. "Fire, and to some extent Spirit as well. Earth, water, air – none of them have the same destructive power as fire. Fire truly stands alone. And so does Hiei."

After a moment of silence, Yusuke spoke up. "Why are you telling us this?"

Kurama hesitated, before answering. "I think Hiei can help you with your quest. And I even think he'll want to. So I want you to let him. But you won't if you don't understand him, even just a little."

The three first party-members all scowled, but let it go as Kurama clapped his hands together with a soft smile.

"Now, the reason you're here. Would you mind explaining the details of your quest?" Slightly taken aback, Keiko nodded hesitantly.

"Y-yeah. Of course."

Kurama listened attentively as Keiko gave a brief description of their quest and adventures so far. When she described the flower they needed, he leaned back in his chair.

"The Sunburst flower is rare indeed,"

"Can you tell us where to find one?" Keiko asked eagerly. Kurama's lips pursed in thought.

"I believe I can do better. I have a seed, right here." He reached into his hair and pulled out a tiny seed.

Yusuke snorted. "You keep seeds in your hair?" He said, smirking mockingly. It was Hiei who replied.

"Wait till you see him fight. It makes more sense then." He said, not looking at the group as he strolled back in and retook his place on the windowsill, half in, half out of the house. Kurama didn't seemed remotely perturbed by this, though he did tip a slight nod to Hiei in thanks for the compliment. Yusuke took a breath and shook his head.

"Okay, whatever. Is that seed for the flower we're looking for?"

"Yes. There are very few left in the Earth Plane. And none in any other Planes."

"Will you give it to us?" Kuwabara asked. Kurama met their gazes.

"The seed? No. I am willing to grow the plant and give you one of its flowers."

"But it's just a seed." Keiko pointed out. "It'll take months to grow!"

Hiei snorted from the window, and Kurama smiled at the Princess. "In normal circumstances, yes. But I can use my magic to speed up the process."

"Really? That's amazing!" Keiko exclaimed. "So how long will it take?"

"Well, without magic it would take a year or so." The three travellers' eyes bugged out of their heads. "So I can probably get it down to a day"

"A day!?" Kuwabara yelped. "How?"

Kurama just smiled mysteriously. Yusuke barked a laugh.

"The city folk did say you were powerful." He said. Kurama maintained his pleasant expression, moving to plant the seed in the ground. Then he placed his hands on the Earth, and soon a green glow emerged from them. For some reason, just standing near it made Keiko feel refreshed, and she had the strangest urge to laugh. She glanced sideways and saw Yusuke looking at her with a grin on his face. She returned it happily. Then the green glow faded, and the feeling passed.

"Woah." Kuwabara said. Kurama blinked.

"Ah, my apologies, I should have warned you. When I use a lot of magic, it can have that effect. Now," he said, "I have done all I can by infusing it with my magic. It will still take some time though. I would suggest going to the Fire Plane, collecting your item there, and then coming back. By then, the plant should be fully grown, and you can move on."

Keiko considered this. "It would save time." She agreed. After deciding to leave in the morning, Kurama proved himself to be an excellent host, supplying them with a meal and beds. And the next morning, they were prepared to set off.

"I must warn you," Kurama said, stopping Yusuke's enthusiastic move towards the door, "I don't know how to find the volcano you're looking for. The Fire Plane is not one I'm well acquainted with."

Yusuke scowled. "If you don't know where it is, how are we going to-" He stopped abruptly, and eyed the innocent looking Earth mage. And reminded himself that he was looking at a master thief, not just a simple hermit. And that the man's spirit companion was a fox, a notorious trickster.

"Hiei," Yusuke said instead. "Do you know where it is?"

The smaller man, who had been turned away, disinterested until this point, snorted. "Of course I do. I know the Fire Plane perfectly."

Yusuke sighed internally, but he couldn't change the situation. "Of course you do." He muttered. "Could you lead us there?"

Hiei's look turned from smug to incredulous. "Why on earth would I do that?"

"Have you anything better to do?" Kurama asked mildly, bringing a scowl to Hiei's face.

"I'm sure I can think of _anything else._ " The Fire mage hissed. Kurama looked put upon.

"Hiei, I know why you came here. Don't you want to see how this one plays out?" He asked. To Yusuke's surprise, something indescribable passed over Hiei's face. Almost like worry, or maybe longing. But it was gone so fast it was impossible to place.

"I'll come too." Kurama added, to everyone's collective surprise. "There's nothing more I can do here, after all."

Hiei's usual grouchy expression was back in full force.

"Fine." He spat.

Keiko frowned, unsure she wanted the man who'd almost killed her leading the way. But if they didn't have to find civilisation and ask for directions, they would save a lot of time. So she somewhat unwillingly followed the group, now consisting of herself, Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara and Hiei, out the door.

The Portal took some time to reach. The walk was not unpleasant, as Kurama made polite conversation with ease. Hiei walked at the edge of the group, never talking and occasionally vanishing into the trees. The first time they noticed he was missing, Kurama waved it off and kept going. He did eventually come back, and after a while, much to Yusuke's consternation, the Spirit mage did actually get used to it. Keiko was careful to discuss nothing of her father's palace – just because Kurama was reformed, didn't mean she was giving valuable information to a thief.

The journey took all morning, and after a lunch break – _not_ a picnic, regardless of what it looked like – they arrived. But there was a slight problem.

"Uh, Kurama?" Kuwabara said. "That's a cliff."

"Yes it is." Kurama said patiently. "The Portal is at the bottom."

"Oh no." The Captain said, waving his arms. "We're not doing this. I don't care. Find a different Portal. I am not jumping off a cliff!"

"It's not _that_ high." Hiei sniped. Kuwabara looked ready to explode at him, when Keiko interrupted.

"How do we even know there's a Portal down there?" She asked quietly. "It's too far to actually see the shimmer."

Kurama's expression remained patient. "Listen, the second nearest Fire Portal is a week's walk from here. And," he turned to Keiko, "I suppose you may have to call it a leap of faith."

Yusuke scowled. "So we're supposed to just trust you guys? You do know that Hiei tried to kill us, and that we met you a few hours ago, right?"

Hiei growled, and took a few paces back. Then, he sprang forwards, and leapt off the cliff. The others raced forwards to the edge, in time to see him falling, black coat flared around him, before vanishing mere moments before he hit the ground.

Yusuke shrugged. "Okay, that's conclusive enough for me." He said, copying Hiei's actions of backing off slightly. Then he turned to Keiko. "Are you following me, Your Majesty?"

Keiko's mouth dropped open, but she didn't answer. She didn't know that she could just jump – not that high, even with–

"Don't worry." Yusuke grinned. "I'll catch you."

And then he was gone. Keiko was too frozen to watch him fall. His words just kept echoing in her head. _I'll catch you._

She moved slowly, as though in a trance, to occupy the space he had been standing in.

"Princess…" Kuwabara said, not sure what he was trying to say. You don't have to? Please don't? Either way, he ended up shaking his head and falling into silence. Keiko tried to calm her racing heart. But she was about to jump off a cliff.

A leap of faith, eh? But it wasn't Kurama she was putting her faith in.

 _I'll catch you._

She ran. And she leapt.

The air was catching at her clothes and her hair as she tore through it, making her eyes water as her vision blur. All she could see was cliff face moving past at incredible speed. This was nothing like falling in the Air Plane. There, it had been feeling weightless, and magic native to the Air Plane had made it easy, comfortable. Here, it was falling like a stone. Just as she was sure she'd missed the Portal and was about to splatter on the hard ground, she felt static, and then she was in Yusuke's arms.

"Told ya." He smirked. Keiko gasped, heart still beating far too fast, fast enough for her to look up at Yusuke's lively eyes and consider doing something she probably shouldn't.

"You caught me?" She asked breathlessly.

"Yup." And it was true – he was currently holding her bridal style.

"Where's Hiei?" The Princess asked, coming back to herself slightly, feeling her cheeks redden, and not just from the exhilaration.

"He's checking the perimeter." Yusuke said, voice lowering. Keiko's eyes jerked back to his face, and met his gaze. And then she was edging closer to him, arms tightening around his neck. And then there was a crash behind her, making her jump.

She twisted around, and saw Kuwabara in a heap.

"Captain!" She exclaimed, worried. Yusuke hurriedly set her down, and they rushed to help the tall man up.

"That was awful." Kuwabara groaned. "I'm never doing anything like that again. Ever, you hear!" He finished in a yell, waving his fist. Behind him, Kurama appeared, long red hair trailing behind him as he fell, before landing as gracefully as a jungle cat. He smiled benignly as he saw the group.

"Good, we're all here." He said, nodding to Hiei as the latter approached, motioning for the smaller mage to take the lead. Hiei answered with a scowl.

"The volcano you're looking for is this way." He growled, before stalking off. The only two who hesitated before following were Keiko and Kuwabara, but even they had to admit that they didn't have much of a choice anymore. They'd come this far.

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 **A/N: Thanks for reading, feel free to drop a review! Until next time!**


	19. Fire Plane Revisited - Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Kakusho.**

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They travelled in silence for a while, Hiei's natural moodiness putting off any attempts at conversation. The clambered across the rocky landscape, which might have been more fun if not for the muggy heat of the Fire Plane, and the overall ominous feel of the place. Hiei was the only one who seemed to get a little happier the longer they walked. After a while, Kuwabara snapped.

"Ok, that's it!" He snapped, stopping and wiping the sweat of his brow. "How do we know the little brat isn't leading us in circles?"

Hiei snorted, half in derision, half in contempt, and crossed his arms, looking none the worse for wear. This only fuelled Kuwabara's anger.

"You-!" He yelled, taking a swing at the shorter man. Hiei sidestepped nimbly, causing Kuwabara to stumble a step before regaining his balance. Hiei chuckled.

"That was pathetic, you clumsy oaf." He said with a cruel laugh. Rage washed over the Captain's face. He spun around, preparing to charge again, when Yusuke caught his arm and pulled him aside.

"This is getting us nowhere!" He yelled. "Hiei, stop antagonising him. No, don't even, I know you're doing it on purpose!" He said, cutting Hiei's interruption short. "And you," he turned to the fuming Kuwabara, "just chill, ok? And stop trying to pick a fight."

"Give me half a chance and I'll kill that shrimp." Kuwabara muttered, still furious but pulling away from Yusuke. Hiei snorted, managing to sound both undaunted and mocking. Kuwabara bristled, and Yusuke put his head in his hands.

"Seriously, guys, what did I just say?" He grabbed Hiei's arm, ignored the angry hiss he received, and pulled him away from Kuwabara. "Just keep going, okay? We'll keep up."

Hiei shook his arm free, shot Yusuke a last dirty look, and carried on. Kuwabara edged closer to the Spirit Mage.

"Seriously, how do we know that he's not leading us straight into a trap?" He whispered. Yusuke eyed the small black form cautiously, and shrugged.

"I think we can trust him now. I'm not quite sure why. But I don't think he'll betray us."

Kuwabara gave him a disbelieving look. "Are you always this trusting of your enemies?"

Yusuke laughed. "Yeah, I guess so, actually." He jogged a few steps, and caught up with the Fire mage. "Hey, Hiei. Why don't you just turn into a dragon? Then you could just fly us there."

Hiei stopped short, and fixed a slightly incredulous glare on the Spirit mage. "You are of course joking." He deadpanned. Yusuke shook his head. The glare intensified, but Hiei moved forward again.

"Even _if_ I felt so inclined as to _carry_ you morons, which I _do not_ , as I am not a... a … _mode of transportation,_ it's not really an option for me right now since you _tore up my wing."_ By now the glare was pure poison. Yusuke became aware he may have brought up a sore subject.

"But you look fine!" He said, gesturing at Hiei's arm. Hiei followed his gaze, and his face darkened more.

"This is my _arm_ , you fool, not my wing. My dragon form and human form are separate. As I use my human form, my dragon form is healing. So currently, _I can't fly."_

Kuwabara radiated smugness, and Yusuke just felt awkward. "Oh. Well… sorry about that. But you know you were trying to kill us."

"You were going to the Ice Plane!" Hiei hissed. "No one good goes to the Ice Plane!"

Yusuke frowned at that response. It didn't make sense.

"Why do you care about the Ice Plane?"

"None of your damn business!"

Hiei darted ahead, leaping off a large rock, and abruptly leaving the conversation. Yusuke aimed a raised eyebrow at Kurama, who sighed.

"People trying to get to the Ice Plane usually do so with the intention on taking advantage of the healing abilities of the Ice Maidens." He explained. Kuwabara scowled.

"Yeah, we noticed. But why does Hiei care?"

"That," Kurama said quietly, "is his story to tell."

"Here!" Hiei called, from about twenty meters ahead. The group rushed to catch up, and saw, behind a huge volcano, an even bigger one, spitting magma angrily, lava slowly coursing down the side of the mountain in small rivulets. It was making an awful hissing sound, and overall would have made Keiko shiver if not for the heat.

With a snort, Hiei started to climb up, Kurama close on his heels. The rest of the group followed. Keiko shot the top of the volcano a worried look.

"Is this volcano active?" She asked.

"This is the Fire Plane," Hiei replied shortly, not even looking back. "Every volcano is active."

An hour later, they were finally getting near the top. By now, Yusuke had shed his top, Keiko had taken off her jacket, even though it was already trashed, and Kuwabara had removed the bulk of his lightweight armour. Even Kurama had rolled up his sleeves. The only one who was undisturbed was Hiei, but he was a Fire mage. He was quite literally in his element, and wasn't about to be fazed by it.

"Do you have a container that will hold the lava?" He asked. Keiko, breathing heavily and feeling as though she was melting, nodded shakily and pulled a small stone jar from her leather pouch.

"I… borrowed it… from my father… especially for this." She panted. Hiei gestured at the river of lava they were standing next to, and Keiko stepped forward. Carefully, making sure not to touch the lava itself, she dipped the jar into the stream, allowing it to fill. It was a tiny jar, so it only took seconds. She quickly pulled away, eyeing the new burns on her hand miserably, and closed the jar. Hiei nodded.

"The lava will stay molten forever, no matter what the temperature outside is." He said. Keiko nodded, thanked her stars that she had the special jar, which despite the temperature of the lava, was only warm to the touch, and slipped it into her pouch.

"Let's get out of here." Yusuke said, blinking the sweat out of his eyes. As they turned to leave, though, they heard a growl. Hiei cursed, and drew his katana. This reaction immediately put the others on guard, as they looked around for the cause of it. Keiko recognized the threat as soon as it appeared. It was what looked like a black wolf, but it easily came up to her waist, and its hackles were on fire. Its lips were drawn back in a snarl, and its red eyes glowed furiously.

"Fire wolves." Hiei spat, assuming a fighting stance. Yusuke shot him a nasty glare.

"Really? Is that what they're called? Thanks for that!" He snapped. The Fire mage swiped his hand along his katana, lighting the metal on fire with his magic, turning it into a far deadlier weapon, and ignored Yusuke.

"How many of these things are there?" Kuwabara yelled, as more wolves emerged from around rocks, behind crags, and one, quite memorably to Keiko, from within the lava.

"They live in packs." Hiei growled, as more climbed up the mountain. "Twenty. Maybe thirty." Soon, they were surrounded. Keiko found herself at the heart of a square formed by the four warriors. Kuwabara's sword was drawn, and Yusuke's hands were up, the air around him becoming slightly static as he gathered his magic. A wolf bounded forward, towards Yusuke. He fired a Spirit beam at him, causing it to yelp and fall away. Yusuke's whoop of triumph was interrupted as he saw a black mass in his peripheral vision, barely had time to get his arms up to shield his face, let alone blast it, and was about to be torn apart by claws and fangs when the wolf was yanked away mid-air, flying away and being thrown into a rock. Yusuke stared in shock at Kurama, who was holding a whip that Yusuke soon realised was made of a plant - a rose. Kurama scowled as it caught fire on the wolf, and cast it away, He reached into his hair, and pulled out a new seed, using his magic to form a new one. This took place in a matter of seconds. Yusuke blinked, suddenly realising the practical value of keeping an entire arsenal of weapons hidden in your _hair_.

"Thanks, man." He said, offering a grateful grin. Kurama nodded, and looked back at the surrounding wolves, who had temporarily frozen in light of what happened to their comrades. Then, as one, they attacked. Yusuke used Spirit blast after Spirit blast, sending wolves crashing away from him. He knew from the whimpers on his left and right around him that his companions were holding their own, but the problem was, the wolves were surprisingly smart. They almost always attacked together, usually with one serving as a diversion. The tag-teaming made it harder for Yusuke to defend himself, and he had to work doubly hard, to keep both himself and the princess safe. From the activity around him, he realised the others were having the same problem. Even Hiei was making sure no wolves got to the princess, but that may have been more of a personal issue he had with the wolves than a desire to protect her. To make matters harder, some of the wolves howled, and an answering howl soon made itself heard.

"Crap. That sounds like backup!" Yusuke yelled. Sure enough, more wolves soon appeared. Many of the ones that had fallen struggled back to their feet, ready for round two. By this point, the heat was getting to everyone, even Hiei.

"We have… to get further… down the mountain… We're too close…" Kuwabara got out, barely able to breathe.

"There's a problem with that." Hiei pointed out coldly, eyeing the circle of flaming wolves around them. Yusuke raised a hand to wipe the sweat of his face.

"Kurama, is there anything you can do with your magic?" He asked. Kurama's eyes narrowed in a rare show of negative emotion.

"There's a not a lot of plant life to work with here." He said evenly. "I'm doing what I can with my rose whip but the ground here is made of rock. And there's no humidity in the air."

"Okay then." Yusuke said, thinking desperately. There were now twice as many wolves as there had been to start with. "That's not good."

"Can you people get them in one group?" Hiei asked. Kurama's gaze flew to him.

"Hiei, you're not healed." He said warningly.

"Can you do it?" Hiei repeated forcefully.

Yusuke and Kurama exchanged glances. "We can try!" Yusuke answered. "Kuwabara! Get Keiko out of here!" With a nod, Kuwabara backed towards Keiko.

"When they move, run uphill." He whispered. Keiko nodded, unfreezing slightly. As one, Kurama and Yusuke leapt uphill, over as many wolves as they could. Yusuke fired a strong blast, pushing wolves downhill. Kurama's whip lashed out, pushing more back. And Kuwabara dragged Keiko towards higher ground, slashing wolves that leaped at him, fangs bared, as he went. Hiei, meanwhile, had dropped to one knee and was already surrounded by shadows that hid his form. With a flurry of their most powerful attacks, the rest of the warriors continued pushing the fire wolves back, not letting up, never letting them gain an inch. It was exhausting, but it didn't have to be for long.

And sure enough, soon a deafening roar echoed across the land, as Hiei emerged from the shadows in dragon form. His wing was only half knitted back together, and still hung limply by his side. He didn't bother trying to move it, just blasted Darkness Flame at the wolves, who yelped and bolted. A few escaped – many were caught in the inferno that was Hiei's strongest attack. Yusuke, Keiko and Kuwabara stared at the dragon. It was hard to reconcile the small, grouchy mage they had on their side with the black monster. Kurama broke into their thoughts.

"Come. We must get downhill." They nodded, and started down as fast as they could, which wasn't really that fast. Hiei led the way, wing dragging awkwardly, just in case the wolves came back. They made it about a halfway down, where the heat was less intense and they were in less danger, then stopped. Yusuke moved next to Keiko.

"Are you alright, Your Majesty?" He asked, cocky grin making a comeback. Keiko couldn't find it in her heart to be angry at it though, it was part of what made Yusuke Yusuke. And she was coming to realise that she wouldn't have him change for all the world.

"I thought we were done for, for a moment there." She admitted. Yusuke laughed.

"Yeah. Only for, what, the twelfth time on this quest? Thirteenth? I lost track." He said, expression not changing. "Seriously, even I wasn't expecting this trip to be _this_ fun."

Keiko raised an eyebrow. "Really? This is fun for you?" She asked incredulously. Yusuke gave a careless shrug.

"Well, you know, I've gotten a lot more powerful since I joined you guys. That wave of magic I used on those wolves? Never been able to do that before. And I've been to some cool places. Never thought I'd see the Ice Plane and get to save an Ice Maiden. Never thought I'd get to fight a dragon. Never thought I'd get to befriend a dragon – well, sort of. I met some really cool people, like Jin. Not to mention these guys." He gestured at their companions, who were focused on Hiei, who was twitching his wing tentatively. Yusuke turned a suddenly serious gaze back to Keiko. "I met you." He said quietly.

Keiko's breath caught in her throat. Because it was true; she could collect all the wonders of all the Planes in her little leather pouch, but the most important thing she found on this crazy trip was him. It was always him. And they had almost died so many times, been interrupted so many times, could easily die tomorrow, and she wasn't letting this moment slip away. Yusuke, with similar thoughts, finally leaned down and kissed her. The harsh ground and red skies faded away, they didn't matter, and neither did the fact that their friends were nearby, even if they weren't paying attention. Keiko wrapped her arms around his neck, even as he pulled her closer to him. It was one long, perfect moment; until a red blast shot past them, and everything went to hell.

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 **A/N: many, many thanks for the kind reviews! They really mean a lot to me. Things are _heating up_ in this chapter (see what I did there?) so tune in next time for more! Au revoir for now!**


	20. Fire Plane Revisited - Part 2

**Disclaimer: see previous chapters.**

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Kurama approached Hiei, who was glancing back at his wing, pulling away from Keiko and Yusuke's quiet conversation. Kuwabara followed him, curious despite himself about the dragon in their midst. Hiei looked up, red eyes glowing, as Kurama approached.

"You know better than to change into an injured form, Hiei." Kurama said quietly. "You know how dangerous it is."

The dragon answered with a snort, or maybe a growl. He tried to get his wing to move, with little success.

Kuwabara looked confused. "What's so bad about it?"

Kurama sighed. "Well, it could aggravate the injury. It could, by trying reform itself whole, create another, more serious injury, or it could possibly kill him." He said, glaring at Hiei, who refused to look at him.

Kuwabara's eyes widened. "Woah. Why did you do it then?"

The scathing glare sent by Hiei was readable even in dragon form. Kurama sighed again. "Because we were out of better options, I imagine."

Hiei snorted, and Kuwabara stepped back to consider this. If that was true, then Hiei had gone out of his way to help them. Put himself in danger, even. Though he was also saving his own skin, it was still something, and maybe he wasn't as bad as the Captain had first thought. Maybe Yusuke was onto something.

The air around Hiei started to darken, a sure sign that he was switching back. He was interrupted, however, by, a red beam that shot through the air, bathing the whole area in red, and blasting Hiei in the chest, sending him falling back with a roar of anger and pain. He landed with a crash, before swinging his fanged maw back around to see his attacker, shadows dispelling instantly. The others had spun around as well, looking oddly flustered.

"What the hell?" Yusuke gasped, just as Keiko muttered "red Spirit magic?". Then he saw the man approaching. "No way…" He breathed. "Yomi!"

The strange man approached, and Keiko gasped. He was tall, with long sleek black hair, and white-filmed eyes that betrayed his blindness, though nothing about his movements did. But what shocked her was the three sets of horns poking out of his head. She knew enough to guess what he was. "A demon." She whispered fearfully. The red blast must have been Demon magic, she realised. Yusuke growled, and stepped in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" He spat. Yomi smirked.

"My my Yusuke, what a rude way to greet old acquaintances." He said, false pleasantness oozing from his voice. Keiko gasped and glanced at Yusuke.

"You know him?" She asked. Yusuke nodded shortly. Keiko tried to understand how that was possible. How could Yusuke know a demon? How could the demon know Yusuke's _name?_ It didn't make sense.

"We didn't exactly get on." Yusuke growled, not taking his eyes off the newcomer. Yomi smiled at that.

"No, we didn't really. And you were just a child." He turned his eyes to the Earth mage. "And Kurama! How nice to see you again."

Kurama didn't say anything, just stared guardedly. Keiko turned to him as well.

"You too?" She demanded. The Earth mage nodded.

"Our paths have crossed." He said vaguely.

"I don't believe I know you. But then, I don't believe you matter." Yomi said airily, breezing over Kuwabara, much to his outrage. "But _you,_ " he said to Hiei. "A mage who can change shape and become a dragon? When my spies reported that, I had to look into it. And look what I found - one of the most feared and respected mercenaries in all six Planes, known to most as the Flying Shadow. And that without using your dragon form. Most impressive, Hiei."

The dragon's eyes flashed with anger as he pulled himself to his feet, talons scoring into the stone beneath him, but if Yusuke was reading Kurama right, then Yomi shouldn't have known all of that, and it disturbed him. It made sense, Yusuke supposed. Hiei wouldn't want to advertise his abilities, if only for paranoia's sake. If that was true, then Yomi was frighteningly well-informed. The demon in question laughed.

"And the Princess." He said, focusing on Keiko, who took a step back. "Greetings, Your Highness. How is your father the king?"

Keiko glared, intimidated but furious. "You have no right to speak of him." She said coldly, every bit the royalty she was. But Yomi just chuckled.

"You are a credit to your court, Princess." He said, even as a dark expression twisted his face. "It is a shame it will not exist much longer."

Keiko's blood froze in her veins, her thoughts stuttering to a halt. "What?" She breathed. Yomi met her panicked eyes with his own unseeing, cold ones.

"I was always meant to be the Demon King." He stated, words falling heavily in the tense silence. "But that wretch Raizen stole my throne from me. So if I cannot have my kingdom, I will take someone else's."

Keiko's heart raced as she figured out what he was saying. "You're planning a coup." She breathed. "No… an invasion!"

Yomi laughed. "Well done, Princess."

"You bastard!" Kuwabara yelled, fury in his eyes. "You won't get away with this! We'll kill you long before you get the chance to invade our Plane!"

Yomi turned contemptuous eyes on him. "Oh, foolish Captain. You can't stop me. You can't even slow me down. And you won't even get the chance to try." He raised his hand, and four people approached. Yusuke's jaw dropped.

"Holy shit! Toguro? I thought I killed you!"

Toguro stared emotionlessly. "You thought wrong." He said simply. Yusuke scowled, but turned his attention to the other newcomers.

"And I suppose I shouldn't be surprised your shadow made it too." He said testily, eyeing Toguro's brother, who laughed and waved at Kuwabara. The Captain just growled, and raised his sword slightly.

"Good. I won't say no to round two." He said. Then Kurama gasped.

"It can't be!" He murmured, paling. Yusuke followed his gaze, and realised he was staring at a strange looking man dressed all in black, with a black and red cape. "Karasu…"

The creepy man chuckled darkly. "I've been waiting for you, Kurama." Kurama grimaced, and Yusuke had to wonder what Karasu had done to put _that_ expression on the Earth mage's face. He almost looked scared.

Hiei turned bored eyes to the fourth member of the group, who grinned savagely at him.

"I guess that leaves you with me." The stranger said threateningly.

Hiei jerked his head with a snort in a gesture that could only be read as "sucks to be you". The stranger growled, but seemed undaunted by the fact that he was left facing off a dragon. Yomi smiled.

"Excellent. Now that we are all acquainted, I have final preparations to make before I make my move on the Water Plane. This, I'm afraid, is where you die." He glanced around with an unimpressed air. "In hell." Then he turned and walked away. Keiko felt like she couldn't breathe. He was going to kill her father – everyone she knew. Kuwabara gave a battle cry and charged after him, but he was intercepted by Toguro's elder brother, who struck him in the ribs, and kicked him back, so that he fell back with Yusuke and the others.

"We're gonna have to take out these roadblocks before we can go after Yomi." Yusuke said darkly.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Karasu asked, leering at Kurama, whose face set in a grim expression. Yusuke shrugged, and charged forwards at Toguro. The fight had begun.

Yusuke scowled as he used his forearm to block a blow from his opponent, before ducking left to strike his exposed side. Toguro was too fast though, too skilled, and deftly sidestepped, before using Yusuke's momentum to send him stumbling. They were far too easily matched, although, much to Yusuke's chagrin, he was possibly not quite on the same level. He didn't remember Toguro being quite so hard to beat this time. He was coming to the realisation that Toguro had been holding back before. With a snarl, he landed a punch, but it didn't have much effect. Switching tactics, he sent blast after blast of Spirit magic, but Toguro's own countered his well. That didn't mean he was giving up.

Kurama slowly maintained distance from Karasu, hating the sneer fixed on his opponent's face, wishing they weren't still a ways up the side of a volcano. He grimaced, and lashed out with his whip just as Karasu swiped a knife at him. The whip snagged Karasu's wrist and jerked him off balance. He stumbled a few steps, and when he looked back up at the Earth mage, his leer was twisted into a horrible, hateful expression. Kurama grit his teeth. He was not enjoying this battle at all.

Kuwabara was having difficulty pinning his opponent down. Elder Toguro's eldritch laughter echoed around him and he danced around the Captain's sword, his tiny form making it easier to dodge. Kuwabara growled in annoyance, then doubled over as the elder Toguro planted an elbow solidly in his stomach. He quickly recovered, but he redoubled his efforts, aware that they had to go after Yomi – his _sister_ was in the Water Palace, for goodness' sake – and currently, what with fighting an opponent each, they weren't being very productive. One of them had to win, then they could team up. While he wasn't sure how long it would take, he was damn sure he was going to defeat this freak. He just hoped the others would do the same.

Hiei's lizard eyes glared at his opponent, thoroughly unimpressed and challenging. However, the huge man he was facing wasn't fazed. He just smirked.

"The name's Bui, in case you want to know the name of the one who kills you." He said, oozing confidence. A long, low growl sounded from the dragon, as he visibly bristled. He lunged at Bui, jaws snapping, but the man moved away with an agility that belied his appearance. Hiei's jaws closed around empty air. He snaked his head around to follow his opponent's movements. Bui was standing a few meters away, arms crossed with a smirk fixed in place. Hiei roared. Damned if he was losing in dragon form, in the Fire Plane, in open ground, to a single opponent. Of course, it would be easier if he wasn't dragging a wing behind him uselessly. He couldn't take to the air, and it was slowing him down and destabilising him. That really just left his most powerful attack - the Darkness Flame. Oh well. He didn't really need to drag out this fight anyway. With an anticipatory growl, he drew back and breathed in.

All the other combatants were distracted by the pillar of black flame racing towards Bui, who didn't move. Yusuke blinked, having not thought that any of their fights would be over this quickly. Kuwabara managed a small grin, willing to admit that having Hiei on their side was a plus. Bui crossed his arms in an x in front of his face, and to everyone's shock, managed to hold off the fiery blaze. Hiei visibly tensed in surprise and indignation, and increased the strength of his attack. Bui's eyes widened, and although it was clear he had walked into this fight willingly, it was also clear he had severely underestimated Hiei. Yusuke wasn't sure how one goes about underestimating a dragon, and as far as he was concerned this guy was an incredible idiot, but still. Bui was driven down to one knee, and his muscles were shaking as he tried to hold back the inferno that would surely destroy him. Only Kurama's eyes widened.

"Hiei! Stop!" He yelled. Yusuke looked over at him wildly.

"What the hell, Kurama?" He shouted. Kurama didn't take his eyes off the stalemate playing out in front of them.

"Hiei's Darkness Flame is very dangerous, it will destroy anything it comes in contact with, even him!" He called back, but Hiei was beyond hearing him, maybe beyond hearing anything. The flames darkened, and thickened. Bui's magic became visible as he put all his effort into holding off the dragon, and then in one impressive moment, his eyes hardened, he surged back to his feet, and he _pushed_ Hiei's fire back at him. Hiei was forced back, and his roar morphed into something painful as his own flame engulfed him. Yusuke gasped as the dragon fell back in a flurry of black fire and leathery wings. Kurama had to jump clear of the dragon's flailing limbs, as he tried futilely to escape the Darkness Flame.

"HIEI!" Yusuke yelled, taking a step forward but knowing there was nothing he could do to help. Hiei had just put too much into his attack, and the Darkness Flame was not a merciful attack. It almost had a malicious intent of its own, and Hiei had unleashed it. His companions watched from growing horror as Hiei's movements slowed, as his sounds died away. As they were left watching an unmoving pile of flaming black leather and scales, laughter started. With furious expressions, they turned to glare at Bui.

"Even _I_ never expected it to be _that_ easy!" He laughed. He was soon joined by the rest of his team. Yusuke grit his teeth.

"SHUT UP!" He yelled, flying at Toguro, landing a solid punch on his jaw. Toguro fell back, but recovered and kept chuckling.

"Don't worry, Yusuke." He said infuriatingly, not helping the Spirit mage's flaring temper any, "the same fate awaits you."

Bui grinned at the elder Toguro. "Want help with yours? You'll probably need it." Elder Toguro snarled.

"I _don't_ need your help, you worthless dog."

Kuwabara scowled. This really wasn't what they needed. He had actually been banking on Hiei winning his battle. He lifted his sword higher, aware that he wouldn't last long against two opponents of this calibre, but all progress was halted by a deep growl from what everyone had assumed to be cooking dragon. Slowly, Hiei lifted his head, red eyes blazing with indescribable rage. Yusuke's jaw dropped.

"Holy shit…" He murmured, taking in Hiei's appearance.

"Impossible…" Kurama breathed. Hiei was now standing, but he was still engulfed in flame. He lifted his wings – _both wings,_ Yusuke noticed – and fanned the flames that surrounded him. "Controlling the Darkness Flame after releasing it – it should have consumed him. To do this…"

Hiei's eyes quickly focused on Bui, who gulped and took a step back. In one smooth moment, Hiei was in the air, rising before falling like a comet towards his target, black fire trailing behind him as he dove. Bui threw up his arms again, but this time, it was clear that he didn't stand a hope in hell of holding Hiei off. He was quickly pushed down, and as Hiei drew closer, Bui's magic dissipated, weakening, and finally, with a terrible scream that was hard to hear over the sound of Hiei's wings tearing the air, he disappeared into the flames, which left nothing behind.

There was absolute silence as Hiei landed. Slowly, the black flames died away, leaving the dragon unscathed. Kuwabara whooped.

"Alright! Now take out the others!"

Hiei's answer was to cloak himself in shadow again, the twisting, broiling shadows that concealed his transformation from human to dragon. In moments, he was standing as a human once again.

Kuwabara's jaw dropped. "Why would you change back?" He yelled, gesturing angrily with his sword. Hiei shot him a scathing glare in reply, but they could all see that he lacked his usual energy, even if the venom was still there. He reached for his katana, but his hand fell away before he could draw it. He swayed, before falling to the ground. He tried to lift himself onto his elbows, but failed, and lost consciousness. Kuwabara rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Oh."

"Hiei!" Yusuke shouted, but Kurama shook his head.

"He'll be fine, he just needs time." He looked away. "I hope." He muttered the last part quietly.

Yusuke hesitated, but a shift from Toguro forced him to turn his attention back to his opponent. "Fine. Let's finish this then."

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 **A/N: Many, many thanks for the kind reviews! Hope you enjoyed, until next time!**


	21. Fire Plane Revisited - Part 3

**Disclaimer: don't own it.**

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Keiko considered moving to check on Hiei, but one look from Kuwabara made her stay put, out of danger. Hiei was off to the side, and would probably be fine anyway. So she turned back to watching the fights.

Now there were only three battles left, and by far Yusuke was having the worst time. Keiko's gaze darted from pair to pair, trying to keep up. Kurama was exchanging words with Karasu, and seemed to get paler with every passing minute. The elder Toguro seemed to be toying with Kuwabara, but Yusuke was taking the most damage. Keiko winced, as a kick from Toguro slammed into him and sent him staggering. She pressed her hands to her heart. There was no way she was letting him die, not after they had just kissed, not after she was possibly willing to admit that maybe she was slightly falling in love with him. He had to win. He _had_ to win. If he didn't, she didn't know what she would do.

The following events happened too fast for her to keep proper track. The first was that the elder Toguro screamed. The sound was awful, loud and shrill. It seemed Kuwabara had managed to land a solid blow, and quickly followed it by stabbing him in the chest. Keiko gasped, as blood started dripping from elder Toguro's mouth.

Then, a flash of silver drew her eyes, and Yoko had his jaws clamped around Karasu's arm, just in time to prevent Karasu from slashing Kurama's throat, who was on the ground in front of him. Before Karasu could shake off the spirit fox, Kurama was on his feet again, and he flicked his rose whip. The thorns caught Karasu's skin, and tore a deep gouge in his chest. With a howl, Karasu clutched at the severe wound, and stumbled a few steps away from Kurama, who was breathing heavily and sweating.

Before anything else could happen though, movement near Yusuke caught Keiko's eye, and before she could scream, Toguro punched _through_ Yusuke's stomach. Suddenly every detail jumped out at Keiko. The widening of Yusuke's eyes, his surprise at the injury, his _stupid_ ego convincing him that it wasn't possible. The blood dribbling from his lips, undeniable evidence that it was. The trembling in his hands as he tried to apply pressure to the injury, hold his insides in, _save himself,_ but Toguro had moved away, and now the _hole_ in his stomach was too big, he was dying, there was too much blood. And now she was screaming, screaming his name, over and over again. The others were staring, in shock, in horror. But there was nothing any of them could do. The world was frozen, except for the screams Keiko couldn't hear, she could only hear the blood rushing in her ears.

And then something changed. The first thing she noticed was the air charging, the feeling of static she was becoming accustomed to intensifying. Still she did not take her eyes of Yusuke, who had collapsed onto his knees, chin on his chest, hands loosely clasped to his stomach. She watched as he looked up, watched his eyes harden, change from their usual lively brown to stone cold eyes that didn't suit him, that _weren't him._ She watched his lips curl back in a snarl that wasn't the smirk she had come to love, and then a blue glow whooshed out around him, pushing Toguro back. And his hair started to lengthen, growing absurdly fast, until it was a long black mane that reached his knees, an unruly mass so different from his usual slicked back look. But strangest of all to Keiko were the blue markings that appeared on his skin, tattoos that covered his body. And then the blue glow surrounding him slowly darkened, until it was purple, before finally becoming red.

Demon magic.

Yusuke's hands dropped from his stomach, revealing a mostly healed wound. It would scar, but it wouldn't stop him from fighting. Murder was in his eyes as he got to his feet, and faced off with a shocked Toguro. After a moment, though, the huge man started to laugh.

"Unbelievable." He said. "Yomi must have known, but he never told me. You'd think he could have warned me." After a few more seconds' laughter, he sobered, and met Yusuke's glare. "The Demon Prince himself. The illegitimate heir to Demon King Raizen. And he's running around, protecting a Water Princess."

The world slowed to Keiko as she heard the words, but didn't understand them. It was as though he was speaking a foreign language. One where 'demon' meant something else, because she knew demons were evil, and she had been travelling with Yusuke for long enough now that she would know–

But his evasiveness about his past was coming back; the strange habits he had, the things he knew that spoke of a noble background. But _never_ would she have thought a dem- she couldn't even think it. If she did then it might be true. She waited for Yusuke to laugh, to turn back into his old self, to _deny_ that he was the Demon Prince. But he didn't. Instead, the alien anger stayed in his countenance, as he growled,

"You made a huge mistake, Toguro." It was a low, guttural sound, and it wasn't Yusuke, it was _wrong,_ it was all so wrong. Keiko pressed her hands to her mouth, and only noticed then that tears were coursing down her face. Tears of anger, fear, sadness… She didn't know. She didn't have a clue. All she knew was that the fight was starting again in earnest, this time with Yusuke on the winning side. He was far faster, stronger, and he used magic blasts far more frequently. Toguro didn't have a second to think – he just kept being blown back by Yusuke's relentless assault. Finally, he managed a retaliatory punch, but it was blocked and ignored. Suddenly someone grabbed Keiko's shoulders and she jumped, only to find herself looking into the eyes of her Captain, which shone with similar feelings to her own.

"Princess, we should move!" He said forcefully, and his meaning broke through to Keiko. They should run from Yusuke. He was a demon, he was dangerous. They should move. A quick look at the rest of the battlefield showed that Hiei hadn't shifted from where he had collapsed earlier, and Kurama was on the ground, looking utterly spent, bleeding from several wounds. Karasu was dragging the injured elder Toguro away – it was too hard to tell if he was alive or dead. And the air was heating up, the steams of lava were thickening, and Keiko realised there was a good chance the volcano they were fighting on would erupt soon. So she let Kuwabara drag her around the fight, but she couldn't leave until she saw who won. She shook her arm free of the Captain's grip, and watched.

Yusuke's strikes were stronger, and his entire technique was more ferocious than before. Even though the fight evened out some, he was still obviously the better fighter now. Toguro just couldn't keep up. His incredible strength meant nothing in the face of Yusuke's new form. His attacks were deflected with ease and his defence just wasn't strong enough to hold off an opponent of the Demon Prince's calibre. A smile found its way onto his face. Yusuke saw and halted, fury sliding through his veins like ice.

" _What,"_ he hissed, "is so _funny?_ "

"I've spent years looking for a worthy opponent." Toguro answered. "And I've found you. Finally."

Yusuke cocked his head. It was an animalistic movement, and it made Keiko shudder. "You wanted to die?"

"I wanted the option. I wanted to feel… well, to _feel._ " The man-mountain explained. Yusuke's lips drew back.

"Should have found a different way. This one's fatal."

"Oh, we both know danger is the best way to feel alive." Toguro said with another laugh. Yusuke snarled and threw himself back at Toguro, attacks even more frantic, and Keiko found herself looking away, unable to watch. This wasn't Yusuke, it couldn't be, it couldn't be… When she looked again, Toguro was on his knees, and Yusuke was standing above him, breathing hard but not exhausted. Eyes cold but calculating.

"You really want to die?"

"I don't want to live but not live." Toguro answered calmly. "I think I've been looking for this for a long time…"

Keiko cringed away, hiding her face, but still hearing the thump of a body hitting the floor. Her breath hitched, and she sobbed. Kuwabara's hand on her shoulder was the only thing anchoring her to reality, because if he let go, she would think this was all a crazy, horrifying dream. Then _his_ voice dragged her back to the present.

"-eiko! Keiko! Keiko, please!" He sounded like the Yusuke she knew. She opened her eyes, and found that the marks had faded, his eyes were back to normal, only they were more pleading than usual, and he looked – almost scared himself. The only physical remainder of his demonic transformation was the long hair. He reached out a hand to her, and she flinched away on reflex. The hurt that crossed his face didn't reach her, she was starting to think nothing could. And then she finally identified one of the emotions in her heart. Betrayal.

"How could you?" She screamed, relishing the shock on his face, the pain. "Why would you do this to me?!" Tears were falling fast again, but she didn't stop to breathe, to brush them away. If she did that he might say something. "You're a – a demon! How could you never tell me? How could you just… just let me…"

"Keiko-"

"NO! You had so many chances, but you kept it a secret! Why would you even – I – I fell in _love_ with you!" She finally gasped out, ignoring Kuwabara's tensing behind her. "How could you let me fall in love with you if you're a _demon_? Why would you kiss me?" Because in all the horrifying stories she had been told about demons, never had someone told her they could make you fall in love with them only to break your heart. It seemed too cruel. " _How could you_?"

The devastated gleam in his eyes as he shook his head desperately didn't affect her. She was too hurt, too betrayed, too humiliated. She stumbled back, away from him, only to be caught by Kuwabara, who was glaring at Yusuke as well. Surely he had to feel betrayed too, he and Yusuke had been close friends. Then he looked up, at the top of the mountain, which was spitting more magma by now. He hissed, and pulled Keiko away.

"Come on, Princess." And Keiko, too numb to notice Yusuke dropping to his knees, having spent too much energy in the fight to remain standing, just followed him. The Water Plane was washing its hands of this mess, and leaving. Yusuke was left, watching the Princess hurry away, stumbling over rocks she couldn't see through the tears in her eyes. Her image started to blur, whether from sweat in his own eyes, ash falling from the skies, or blood loss he didn't know. He just knew she was fading away. And then hands grabbed his shoulders, and started shaking him desperately.

"Yusuke! Yusuke, are you with me?" Yusuke focused in on Kurama, who looked terrible, but was still there. "Yusuke, we need to get away from here! Can you stand?" After a few moments, Yusuke caught on and rose to his feet. It wasn't easy, but it was doable. He looked around, and caught sight of Hiei's unconscious form. He staggered up the hill, leaving Kurama, who was in far worse shape, to wait for him. After what seemed an eternity, he reached the small Fire mage, and slung him over his shoulder. Hiei didn't even stir. Yusuke hurried back down the side of the volcano, happy that Hiei was as small and light as he was. Quickly, he joined Kurama and the two of them dashed away from the imminent disaster. They ran without any specific goal, just away from danger was enough for them. Sometimes, they stumbled, but the other would help, and together, carrying Hiei, they made their way to safety. After some time of running and walking, a loud rumbling behind them alerted them to the fact that they had run out of time. Fortunately, Kurama perked up.

"I recognize this. Over there – a Portal."

Without wasting any time, they ran forwards, Yusuke heading where Kurama had shakily pointed. He felt the Portal before he saw it – its magic calling out to his own. Without hesitating, the mages threw themselves through, to safety. They landed in a bush, and staggered forwards into a grassy, fern-filled clearing. The ground was soft, which was fortunate since they fell onto it. Yusuke let Hiei slip off his shoulder, and proceeded to drop to the ground himself. He didn't need to look to his side to know that Kurama had done the same.

"I think… we can deal… with everything… after some rest." The Earth mage mumbled. Yusuke nodded, too numb to even think about the look on Keiko's face as she found out his darkest secret. No, he could deal with that later, like Kurama said. So he closed his eyes.

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 **A/N: thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!**


	22. Invasion - Part 1

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters**

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The next morning, Yusuke woke with a start, with only fuzzy memories of the previous events. He looked around, startled by the deep greens surrounding him, and caught sight of Kurama, who was tending to his own wounds, and Hiei, who hadn't even shifted. His brows creased into a frown.

"Are you sure he's okay?" He asked, looking at the Fire mage, who only appeared younger when he was unconscious. And smaller. In fact, without the hateful look in his eyes, one could be forgiven for thinking he looked like a nice person. Sweet, even. Of course, they would be horribly wrong, and would pay for it later. Kurama smiled softly.

"His heart's beating, and he's still breathing. I think that's enough for him; he'll live." He winced as he applied some kind of poultice to a deep gash on his biceps. "You should let me look at your stomach. That injury should have killed you."

Yusuke chuckled, and lifted his shirt. It was true, even with the transformation allowing the wound to heal some, it still looked nasty. Kurama shifted closer, and passed him some of the paste. "Put that on, and cover it with these leaves, they'll help."

The Spirit mage obeyed; anything to keep Keiko's words from replaying in his head on a loop, from that look in her tear-filled eyes filling his mind. _How could you…_ She was right, he should have kept his distance, he should have told her… There was so much he should have done. Fortunately, a distraction appeared in the form of Hiei finally stirring, opening his eyes after such a long time. For a few seconds, he did not move, just took in his surroundings and situation. Finally, he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"What happened?" He asked, voice raspy. Kurama turned his gaze to Yusuke.

"I believe that is something you should answer."

Yusuke looked from one to the other, and sighed. "It's like Toguro said, I'm Raizen's son."

" _What?"_ Hiei snapped, interrupting almost immediately, and Yusuke was reminded that he had been unconscious for most of the fight.

"Yeah. I'm only half demon though. My mother was human." He paused to let that sink in. "I can't change to my demon form on demand, only when I'm badly injured or really, really angry though. And when I do, I lose control of myself a little. But it's still me, even with the physical changes."

Hiei examined him with a critical eye. "Well I suppose that explains the hair. It looks stupid, by the way."

That forced a chuckle out of Yusuke. Then he turned to Kurama.

"Okay, my turn. How the hell do you know Yomi?"

Kurama looked away. "It was a long time ago." He said pensively. "When we were young, we started stealing together. For a while, it was fine, but as I got more skilled, he just became more reckless. And I had ambitions, so I… I abandoned him in the middle of a job."

Yusuke raised his eyebrows at the retired thief, who let out a pained chuckle. "Not my finest moment, I know. I never thought the consequences would come back to bite me so spectacularly though."

Yusuke cocked his head. "Okay then, how does he fight so well? I'm pretty sure he's blind."

Kurama sighed softly, looking troubled. "I can only assume it is a combination of his demon senses compensating, and his magic extending to his surroundings. But, when I knew him, he still had his vision. So I cannot be sure."

Yusuke blinked. "You mean, he got blinded because you let him get caught?" Then, he realised just how insensitive that was, and winced. "Not that we know that. I mean, he could have been blinded at any point, really. Could have been long after you abandoned him. Er."

Hiei elbowed him sharply, putting an end to his rambling. After a moment's pause, Yusuke shrugged, and asked another question. "Alright, what about that other guy? The one you fought." He took note of the instant tension in Kurama's shoulders.

"We encountered each other on a job a few years ago." The Earth mage started. Yusuke's brows lowered.

"You mean he's a thief too?"

"No." Kurama met his gaze with his own serious green one. "An assassin. At best. At worst he's just a serial killer."

Kurama collected himself. "When we ran into each other, he tried to kill me. Just for fun, I think. I held him off long enough for the guards to be alerted. While he was momentarily distracted, I ran. But as I left, I heard him say he wouldn't forget me." He shuddered slightly. "I escaped the battle unscathed. But… Karasu is _creepy._ He said some of the most horrible things." After a moment's pause, he continued. "I've been running from him for a long time. And now, it would seem he's caught up."

Yusuke blinked. "So, do you know _everyone?_ "

Kurama chuckled half-heartedly. "I was a master thief. I travelled a lot, and communicated with a lot of people in… _specific_ circles. So, probably not _everyone,_ but certainly a lot of people."

Yusuke had nothing to say to that. Kurama tilted his head slightly.

"How do _you_ know Yomi?" He asked curiously.

Yusuke shrugged. "I'm the Demon Prince, he's a Demon Lord." He said, as though that clarified everything. "He came to visit the court once, when I was a kid. Must have been before he ran off to become a thief. We didn't get on though; he thought I was crass and I thought he was a stuck-up prick - still do, actually."

The Earth mage nodded slowly. Hiei looked around.

"Not that I'm complaining, of course, but where's the rest of your merry band of misfits? The oaf and the damsel?" He drawled. The atmosphere changed instantly, as Yusuke sighed and flopped to the ground, eyes closing dejectedly.

"She hates me." He murmured. "She's never going to forgive me."

Kurama and Hiei exchanged looks, Kurama's a light glare, requesting a little help and Hiei's clearly saying 'oh no, this one's all yours'. From the way Hiei leaned back carelessly, Kurama guessed he was on his own.

"You don't know that." He said, in an attempt to be comforting. "And she never said she hated you."

"No, but the screaming and crying pretty much gave it away." Yusuke replied, throwing an arm over his face. Kurama shrugged.

"She was upset. Can't you see why?"

"Of course I can see why!" Yusuke exclaimed, sitting up. "I'm a frigging demon! She has every right to hate me! I should never have let any of this go this far! But I did and now she's hurt and her Plane's in danger and I feel as though it's all my fault…"

There was a moment of silence. Then Kurama spoke up.

"You're only half demon."

"Aargh!" Yusuke got to his feet and started pacing. "That's not the point! I'm still the Demon Prince, and I should have told her, but I was worried she would hate me – and now that's all for nothing 'cause she hates me anyway, and-"

The rest of his ramblings were interrupted by a fist in his face, decking him. From where he lay on the ground, he glared up at Hiei, clutching his nose.

"What the hell was that for, you little bastard?" He growled. Hiei met his gaze with equal amounts of anger.

"Your pity party was making me sick." He spat, making Yusuke's eyes widen in surprise. "She hates me, she doesn't hate me… _it doesn't matter._ "

Yusuke pretended not to be insulted by the high-pitched imitation of his voice, and just raised his eyebrows. But Hiei wasn't done.

"Do you love her?"

And _that_ was a question Yusuke hadn't been expecting. One he hadn't even thought of yet. He supposed the answer must have been obvious on his face, because Hiei barrelled on regardless.

"Sometimes, you can't be close to the people you care about. If you're bad for them, if they're _better off without you._ That doesn't mean you stop protecting them!" The last part was an angry hiss, and Yusuke suddenly felt terrible.

"Yomi's invading her Plane." He said quietly, realisation dawning in his eyes. Kurama had a small smile on his face as Yusuke surged back to his feet. Then he faltered.

"What if she doesn't want to see me?"

"I believe saving the lives of her people will go a long way towards making up for any mistakes made." Kurama offered, glad that he had taken that one, as Hiei's derisive snort could be heard behind him. Yusuke nodded, then looked around.

"How long were we out? We're probably way behind, the attack may have already started. Damn, we've been wasting time! Where's the nearest Portal? It could take hours to get there, we don't have that kind of ti-"

And then he was bowled off his feet _again,_ but this time it was by a dragon, rather than Hiei's much smaller form. He had a moment to prepare a long rant for the shapeshifter, when he realised that he wasn't falling. No, he was getting higher and higher. He opened his eyes to see that Hiei's talons were wrapped in his shirt, and he was pulling them into the air.

"I'll meet you there, I have something to do here first!" Kurama called after the rapidly diminishing in size dragon. Yusuke sent back a thumbs up, and glared up at Hiei.

"You know, I'd have been happier if I could have sat on your back. This," he squirmed a little, "is not so comfortable!"

Next thing he knew, he was falling. He had time to register the thought, ' _that son of a bitch',_ then he shrieked. "HIEI!"

The talons closed around him again, and he sent a filthy glare up at the beast. "I got it, stop complaining." He grumbled. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

He could only guess that the sound Hiei made after that was the equivalent of dragon laughter. At his expense.

They travelled much, much faster in the air than they would have on foot, even if they had ran all the way. Once they were above the trees, it was easy to see the cities that the forest housed. Hiei flew straight past most of them, looking for one in particular. Yusuke knew when he'd found it. There was a tall tower emerging from the trees of this one, and Hiei roared as he saw it. Yusuke couldn't help but be impressed: the trip couldn't have lasted more than an hour. He became slightly alarmed though, when he realised Hiei was heading towards the tower at breakneck speed, without checking himself even slightly.

"Uh, Hiei? Hiei? You're gonna crash- Hiei!" Suddenly Hiei tucked his wings close to his body, and shot like a bullet through the Portal that he must have known was there. Yusuke blinked and found them in a world filled with blue.

"Woohooo!" He whooped, exhilarated. He grinned up at the dragon.

"You're crazy, you know that? But that was awesome!" He took in the incredible amount of rivers, lakes, and even the ocean, on the horizon. Yusuke laughed, and shook his head.

"Hey, Hiei? Thanks, man. For doing this for me."

Hiei dropped him again.

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Keiko had no idea where Kuwabara was taking her. They were stumbling across the rocky terrain, desperately hurrying away from the battlefield, from Yusuke standing over a dead body, hair falling in uncontrollable spikes down to his knees, from the fire falling from the sky. After an indeterminate amount of time – she wasn't keeping track – she finally spoke.

"Where are we going?"

"Away." Was the short reply she received. It was enough, for now. They hurried on until they reached a village. It was similar to the one they had gone to before, back when Botan had been injured, and Yusuke had been worried about her–

And that was enough of _that_. They stumbled up to a house, and the occupant was kind enough to give them water and point them towards a Portal to the Water Plane. Luckily it wasn't too far, so they set off at once. The situation was too urgent to stop and rest. They hurried on.

Once they went through the Portal, Keiko finally felt like she could breathe again. She was home, she was finally home! The Fire Plane felt wrong to her, awful even, with its desolate scenery and red skies. By contrast, the Water Plane was like Fairy Land. The happy sounds of rivers gurgling, babbling brooks, a fine mist of water rising up near a waterfall, there was even a rainbow in the sky. She had missed home.

They started walking again, and though they still moved fast, the desperate haste had vanished from their movements. It was only fair, since Kuwabara had been in a serious fight and wasn't unscathed. Soon, however, they saw a group of riders on the horizon. They were coming closer, so Keiko started waving and calling. Kuwabara joined her, and before long, the horses were headed their way. The leader of the mounted group approached.

"Who goes there?" He called imperiously, before his eyes widened. "My word- Princess Keiko!" He bowed as well as he could on a horse. "Your Majesty, your father has the whole kingdom looking for you! You must return with me immediately!"

"Yes, I must." Keiko agreed. "Fetch me a horse." One was brought forward. The man looked strangely at Kuwabara.

"Captain," he said with a respectful nod." The King has ordered your arrest."

"WHAT?" Kuwabara shouted, outraged. The man shifted awkwardly, caught between his duty to the king, and his admiration for a man everyone knew to be a good Captain. Before he could speak, though, Keiko interrupted.

"This is pointless. Kuwabara, in light of the danger we face, I believe you will be needed at the Palace. You will ride with me." Her voice was imperious, and despite the rider's misgivings, he deferred to the Princess' decisions. So Keiko and Kuwabara climbed onto the horse, and set off with the group. They moved faster now, and Keiko was becoming filled with thoughts about what would happen next. They were in danger, they were all in so much danger. She had to warn everyone, she just had to.

When they approached the Palace, Keiko and Kuwabara both leapt off their steed, and hurried up the palace steps. The riders shouted and followed after them, but Keiko wouldn't be slowed down. It was already afternoon, who knew when Yomi would strike. She threw the doors to the Throne Room open, interrupting a council the King was holding with his advisors.

"Father, I must speak with you." She said. There were gasps, of shock and surprise. Keiko was suddenly aware that she must look dreadful. Matted hair, dried sweat, a torn jacket, burnt clothes, blackened skin, dirt everywhere. She felt herself redden, and wished that she wouldn't. She needed them to believe her.

"Keiko!" Her father exclaimed, rising and rushing forward to embrace her. Keiko was frozen with shock. This happened very rarely, and always in private. She must have really worried him.

"I thought you were gone forever." He whispered into her ear. She cautiously hugged him back, aware of the dirt she was getting on his royal robes.

"I was going to come back as soon as I completed the quest." She offered quietly. It was the wrong thing to say, if her father's stiffening was anything to go by. He let her go, and after a quick assessment to find she was uninjured, his eyes hardened slightly.

"We will be discussing your reckless disobedience later." He said. Keiko shook her head.

"There's no time. Father, I bring grave news. A demon named Yomi is on his way to invade our Plane."

Gasps sounded all around them. Keiko saw her father's astonishment, and continued. "We encountered him in the Fire Plane. He is coming, Father. He said he was making the final preparations. Father, you must believe me." She said, trying to convey the urgency of the situation. Her father's doubtful gaze met hers. Then he turned to Kuwabara.

"You, Kuwabara! You kidnapped my daughter, and took her into a dangerous situation, alone and without permission. She could have been killed! What do you have to say in your defence?"

Kuwabara could only hang his head. "I did what I thought was right." He muttered. Keiko saw the ire rising on her father's face, and jumped in front of him.

"Father no! He didn't kidnap me, he followed me! He was being my friend, he did the right thing! Father, please!"

But the King brushed her aside, and called imperiously, "GUARDS! Take him away!" Awkwardly, two guards came forwards, and grabbed Kuwabara's arms, shooting him guilty looks as they did so. "To the dungeons!"

Keiko watched in despair as they took her friend away. She turned pleading eyes to her father, but it seemed any good feeling she had earned by returning had run out.

"You, my daughter, will go at once to your chambers." He ordered. "We will speak later."

Keiko shook her head frantically. "Father, you have to believe me, we're in danger! We're all in danger! You can't just send me away, Father, Please!"

"ENOUGH!" He bellowed. "I have heard enough! Keiko, you will leave before you embarrass yourself further!"

Cowed, Keiko curtsied quietly and left. She walked in silence, pale-faced, all the way to her chambers, before collapsing on her bed in tears. She cried bitter, angry tears, and only stopped when she heard a sigh next to her bed.

"Oh, Princess." She looked up to see her head handmaiden, "What do you think you're doing, Your Highness?"

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 **A/N: alright, this marks the beginning of the final arc, the Invasion Arc! Many, many thanks go out to those who read this story, especially those who reviewed/followed/favourited!**


	23. Invasion - Part 2

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.**

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Blushing, Keiko sat up and wiped her tears away. Shizuru was right, they were unseemly. "I'm sorry. Kuwabara's your brother, and he's in trouble because of me. I'm so sorry." She managed. Shizuru sighed and sat down next to her.

"My dumbass brother makes his own dumbass decisions." She said at length. "And while I do think he's an idiot, I also think he's a good friend." This just made Keiko want to cry again. Shizuru sighed, before continuing.

"Bedsides, I'll see what I can do about that later. First, let's fix _this._ " She gestured at Keiko. "What's wrong with you, Your Highness?"

Keiko took a shuddering breath. "There are demons on their way to invade, Shizuru. Their leader is really strong and I'm worried-"

"Ok, stop." Shizuru held up a hand. "You may be worried about that, but that's not what's causing all _this."_ She gestured again. "So what's really wrong?"

Keiko stared into her friend's eyes, and then looked away. Damn her for knowing her so well. "His name's Yusuke." She started in a whisper, hating the way she said his name, not wanting to meet Shizuru's surprised gaze, and so staring at the sheets instead. "He's… I met him on my quest, and he decided to come with us. To help." She paused, remembering that scene. It brought an unwilling smile to her lips. "He is… unlike anyone I ever met before. He's so alive, and he has this damn smirk, and he's so full of himself. But he's also confident, and he draws people in left and right, and you'd _know_ if you met him, and he saved my life, over and over."

"He sounds amazing." Shizuru said cautiously. It was the wrong thing to say, as Keiko started crying again.

"I loved him." She managed, finally looking at her handmaiden. "I really did. I loved him."

"What did he do?"

Keiko shook her head. She didn't want to think about this, let alone talk about it. But Shizuru wouldn't let up. So eventually, she said,

"He's a demon."

Shizuru gasped. "A real – wait, do you mean metaphorically?"

"No. He's a real demon." She laughed bitterly. It was a twisted sound. "Father always wanted me to marry a prince. I don't think this is what he meant."

"Hold up," Shizuru interrupted, eyes wide, "your boyfriend is a _demon prince?"_

"He's _not_ my boyfriend." Keiko said, but she nodded. Shizuru leaned back.

"Damn." She muttered. Keiko nodded. "Yeah."

After a few moments silence, Shizuru spoke up again. "Did he ever hurt you?"

Keiko hesitated, did breaking her heart count? "Not physically," she said with a small laugh. "He only ever saved me. I remember thinking once that he was dangerous, but not to me. How stupid of me," her smile fell away. "He's dangerous to everyone. It was naïve of me to think I was exempt."

Shizuru's brows drew together. "He doesn't sound so bad." She hedged. Call her biased, but her job was to look after the princess. Anyone who saved her life at least deserved a chance in her book. Keiko's lips pressed into a thin line, and she closed her eyes.

"I know." She whispered. "I just - he's a _demon._ You've heard the stories, and he just - he _killed_ Toguro, just like that, in cold blood, right in front of me, like it was _nothing..._ And he never _told_ _me,_ and - and you should have seen his _eyes,_ he's never looked like that. Never. He was _frightening,_ and I just... I just..."

Shizuru placed a sympathetic hand on the Princess' shoulder. "Hey, you couldn't know. I mean, he didn't have horns or anything, right?"

That drew a chuckle from Keiko. "No. He looked nice. Ordinary. Some of the people we met though, not so much." Her mind flashed to some of the people she had met: a Fire mage with red eyes and a bad attitude, an Earth mage with long hair and a gentle smile, a fairy with a bubbly personality, an Ice Maiden with a warm heart, an Air mage with a cheeky grin. Looking back, she realised it had easily been the best trip in her life, regardless of how many times she had almost died. Then she shook herself back to the present.

"But we also met dangerous people. Bad people, Shizuru. And they're coming. But no one will listen to me."

"Yeah, and your father has ordered you confined to your quarters." Shizuru agreed. Keiko shot up.

"What?"

"You didn't know? He's a little pissed you ran off in the night to get yourself killed. Can't imagine why." She replied dryly. Keiko rolled her eyes at her friend's melodrama.

"Fine. Then I'm going to go warn everyone myself." She declared.

Shizuru cocked an eyebrow. "Did you miss the part about being grounded?"

Keiko flashed her friend a sly smile. "I snuck out before. I'll do the same again."

Shizuru rolled her eyes, but got up. "Fine, but you're taking a new jacket. And you're washing your face, no one's going to take you seriously if you look like you just escaped from a mental asylum."

A few minutes later, Keiko looked presentable again, in an outfit similar to the one she had put on when she first left. Then she began plotting her escape. "Okay, so here's what we'll do-"

Before she got very far, however, someone outside screamed. Keiko leapt up and rushed to her window, and what she saw made her blood run cold.

Demons were approaching. Many, too many to count, a whole army was marching on the palace. They looked horrible – different coloured skin, some with horns, some with wings, some with too many limbs, some with too many eyes. It made Keiko shudder. They all carried weapons – maces, rusty blades, axes… if it could be used to hurt someone, a demon was carrying one. They were drooling and the bloodthirsty gleam in their eyes was terrifying. She watched civilians abandon their work, their livelihoods, to dash away from the approaching wave of demons coming to kill them. She watched as the slower ones were caught and ruthlessly slaughtered, she saw the laughter on the demons' faces as they killed the innocent Water people. It was awful, and, plans forgotten, Keiko flew from her room, Shizuru running after her, shouting her name, the guard posted outside long since gone. She raced into the throne room, where her father was barking orders to a guard, who looked terrified and overwhelmed. People were shouting, and running all over the place, and some were cowering in fear. Keiko grimaced,and made her way to her father.

"What do you mean, the Night Watch is fighting out to the West? We need them at the North Gate! And where is the Cavalry? _Someone find out where the Cavalry is!_ Why is no one evacuating civilians?" Her father roared. The man quivered.

"I d… I don't know…" He whimpered. Her father gripped at his hair, turning away from him. "You!" He yelled. "What's your rank?"

The man snapped to attention, but he didn't know anything useful either. The King scowled, and turned desperately. Keiko ran up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Father! Captain Kuwabara can sort this out!" She yelled, in order to be heard over the din. She met his gaze, spoke over his protests at her being out of her rooms. "You need him, father. Our people need him!"

Because yes, the King had the highest rank. And yes, the whole Guard, every soldier, all answered to the King. But their captain was the one who trained with them, ate with them, shared a barracks with them, looked after them, and sometimes mourned with them. He was their direct superior, and in a crisis, it was their captain that would be able to speak louder than their fear. Not a lofty king, but the man who fought by their side, bled with them and earned their loyalty the hard way.

The King could order them into battle. Kuwabara could lead them there.

After a moment of silence, her father nodded, and grabbed a passing guard. "Fetch Kuwabara from the dungeons, and tell him he's in charge of organising our defences. That's an order!"

The guard ran off, happy for a relatively safe job. Then Keiko rushed back to the window. The Guards were putting up a fight, but she could see too many wounded, and more dead than she would ever have wanted. Soon, however, as she watched, the fight became more even, and the momentum of the demons was halted. Cannons fired, holding back the enemy, and the Water forces became more organised to her eyes. A smile made its way to her face – she knew this was Kuwabara's handiwork. Then she froze. There was a group of three children making their way towards the relative safety of the Palace. They were darting between the legs of demons and humans alike, but Keiko, worried for them, dashed out of the throne room. Her father and all his councilmen were far too busy to see one girl slip away, so the only person who followed her was Shizuru.

"Princess! What do you think you're doing?" She hissed, hot on her princess' heels. Keiko stepped outside into the warzone, picked up a nearby dropped dagger, and saw that the children had been spotted, and were about to be killed. A small girl was standing bravely in front of the other two even smaller children. Keiko surged forwards, and without pausing to think stabbed one of the offending demons in the back. She let go of the dagger as the body fell forwards, dead. The other demons stared at her in shock, quickly turning to rage. The kids seized their chance to run away though. Keiko took a few steps back, fear building in her heart. She didn't see how she was getting out of this one.

Then a dark shadow passed over them, and she looked up to see a black shape disappear into the clouds. Then it dropped out of them with a furious roar, a loud angry sound that caught everyone's attention. She instantly recognized it, and couldn't hold back the relieved smile. It seemed the cavalry had arrived.

xxx

Yusuke's face darkened as he took in the scene - demons surrounded the city, a whole army of them. They were already in the streets, and he was dismayed the see the bodies of civilians in the streets. But, there were also casualties on the demon side, and he could see the guards fighting with everything they had to protect their city. Hiei roared as he rose up into the clouds, onto to flip backwards so he dropped into a nosedive, heading straight for the city like a meteor. Yusuke, despite the situation, couldn't help a grin - he really quite enjoyed flying, especially as recklessly as Hiei seemed able to. As the dragon got closer to the ground - but not nearly close enough - he suddenly flared his wings, pulling up shortly, and promptly dropped Yusuke. For a split-second the Spirit mage thought this was another of his poorly-timed jokes, but it soon became apparent that the dragon had no intention of catching him this time. Yusuke saw the rapidly approaching ground and screamed.

After what felt like a lot longer than it probably was, he landed with a loud 'oof' on top of a pair of demons, who luckily broke his fall. However, this also seemed to break them, and as he struggled to his feet, he heard them groaning pitifully. However, Yusuke's thoughts weren't focused on them. Angrily, he shook a furious fist at the black dragon in the sky, who had swooped back up after dropping Yusuke off.

"I'm gonna kill you, you psycho! You hear me? When this is over you're gonna pay!"

Hiei responded by diving again, and this time burning a path through the army of demons with the Darkness Flame. Yusuke watched in silence for a moment, before resuming his yells.

"Show-off! That changes nothing!"

Grumbling crossly to himself, he turned, prepared to launch himself into battle. It was as he moved, however, that he came face to face with Keiko, who was staring at him with a look of unbridled shock. He froze, and everything else briefly faded into the background as their eyes met. Then the noise of battle flooded back in, and he rallied, flashing her his grin, albeit a tad more nervously than usual.

"Hey, Your Highness. Listen, you should go inside. We got this."

xxx

Behind her, Shizuru blinked. "Yusuke, I'm guessing." She muttered. She went ignored by both of them.

"Yusuke…" Keiko said, all but frozen. Yusuke shrugged awkwardly.

"Look, Your Highness, I'm sorry about everything that happened. And I promise to explain. But only after we deal with these troublemakers."

Keiko couldn't help but huff a small laugh at that, and also couldn't help but be cheered by Yusuke's overwhelming confidence (confidence? Arrogance? Stupidity? It was so hard to tell with him). She spun on her heel and grabbed Shizuru's wrist.

"We should go." She said, dragging her away. Shizuru rolled her eyes.

"You're telling me." She muttered. "But what changed your mind?"

"Yusuke's got this." Keiko said, not meeting her friend's eyes, but knowing that piercing gaze was fixed on her anyway. But how was she meant to explain Yusuke's uncanny way of making people think there was nothing he couldn't do, no opponent he couldn't beat? So instead she just pulled her handmaiden along with her, hurrying back inside, where she climbed the stairs and dashed out onto the balcony to watch.

She heard Hiei's loud roar, and realised that all the winged demons had taken to the skies, and were challenging him on his home turf. She watched him blast one away with his black fire, before spiralling to shake one off his back. The smaller demons surrounded him like a cloud of flies, and Hiei was having a hard time getting rid of them. Still, she didn't believe that he would be taken out so easily. So she turned her attention back to Yusuke. He was standing in the middle of a circle of unconscious demons, and so by now more were taking an interest in him. They were sizing him up, aware now that he was a bigger threat than he had at first appeared. And then she noticed more of them shifting, making a path for someone. She felt her heart speed up as she realised who it must be.

"Yomi." She whispered, as the demon himself appeared in font of Yusuke. Shizuru glanced at her.

"Is he bad?"

"He's a Demon Lord. The one in charge of this whole attack." She whispered, not taking her eyes off the confrontation.

xxx

"I see you're alive. Unexpected, but not problematic." Yomi said, seeming unconcerned by Yusuke's presence. Yusuke grinned back savagely.

"What, no hello?" He mocked. Yomi rolled his eyes.

"I suppose I'll have to deal with you myself, won't I? How tiresome."

Yusuke scowled. "Sorry buddy, but I have a job to do here. It's called protecting these people. But, I'd be more than happy to fight you. Just call off your army first."

For the first time, anger showed in the demon's face. "I will not fight you, I will destroy you, and I will do so whether or not you are fighting back." He growled, Yusuke glanced around, at the civilians who were still running. He couldn't just leave them to fend for themselves while he engaged in a one-on-one duel.

He saw a demon aim a spear, and he twisted to see a young woman who had tripped. He started to head towards her, but he knew he didn't stand a chance of making it in time. The spear flew, but just before it could bury itself in the woman's chest, it was knocked out of the way by a sword.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled, helping the shaken woman to her feet. "We've got the civilians! You do your thing!"

Yusuke grinned, and sent Kuwabara a salute, as the Captain moved on, slashing a demon even as he yelled orders, organising the Palace's defence.

"Well Yomi, looks like my schedule just cleared up. Do you want me to kick your ass into next week here, or somewhere else?"

"You think you're funny, don't you?" Yomi asked, looking bored. Yusuke just shrugged.

"Here, then." He lunged, throwing a punch at the demon's face. It was effortlessly dodged. Yusuke continued his attack, but he couldn't touch Yomi.

"This is pointless." Yomi said, as he used a blast of red magic to send Yusuke flying. The Spirit Mage flipped and landed on his feet, where he slid back, his boots scoring tracks in the ground. "You don't stand a chance against me in your current form. Transform, so we can get started."

"Nah, don't wanna." Yusuke huffed, as he resumed his flurry of kicks and punches. Yomi sighed, before landing an elbow strike right on Yusuke's injured stomach. Yusuke gasped and staggered back, clutching his stomach. Far away, Keiko's hands flew to her mouth. But Yomi wasn't done: he slammed the heel of his palm into Yusuke's solar plexus, before spinning up to land a kick on his temple. Yusuke dropped to the ground. Yomi stood over him, and held up his hand, palm forwards.

"Let's stop playing around, shall we?" He said quietly, before firing a blast of demon magic at point blank range, engulfing Yusuke. Keiko screamed, terrified for him. But in a matter of seconds, Yusuke was back on his feet, ducking under Yomi's arm and pushing his wrist up. The red magic shot up in the air, disintegrating a demon in the skies, inadvertently helping Hiei. But Keiko didn't notice that – she was too focused on the blue marks on Yusuke's skin, the renewed energy and increased speed and sharpness in his movements. Behind her Shizuru started.

"Huh, Demon. Wow." She murmured. Keiko ignored her. Something far more important was going on below them.

Yusuke's strikes were connecting now, but on the other hand, Yomi was hitting back. Every hit he took from the older demon felt like being hit by a truck, and after a few minutes he had to step back to catch his breath.

xxx

Kuwabara grunted as he only just blocked a sabre heading towards his neck, and he didn't have time to recover because there was a young soldier behind him who was asking for back-up for his squad, but he had already spread out his troops as thickly as he could afford to, and this wasn't the first request for back-up he had received. Truthfully, they just weren't equipped for an attack like this. He was doing the best he could, but they were overwhelmed.

Similarly, Hiei was having a hard time in the sky. He was causing more damage than he was taking, but the flying demons just kept coming, and Hiei was being swarmed. He just swerved away from one that came dangerously close to his wing – the one that had only just healed no less – when a loud whoop interrupted his thoughts. He shook off another two demons, and manoeuvred so he could see the new arrivals. To his surprise, they were a group of five humans in the flying vehicles he had seen in his many trips to the Air Plane.

"Uh, Touya? Are we _sure_ Kurama said the big black dragon was on our side?" Jin asked, navigating so he could stab a demon with a short sword he had picked up on his way to the Water Plane.

The pale-haired young man eyed Hiei warily as the dragon fought off another group of demons in a flurry of claws and wings, ending in a blast of Darkness Flame. "Uh… That's what he said."

"Uh-huh." The Wind mage circled carefully. "Do ya think _it_ knows that?"

"Listen, you idiots, just trust Kurama, okay? He says the dragon is a friendly, so it is." Risho yelled. Jin grinned happily.

"A'right then! Let's have some fun!"

This was met with sighs from the rest of his team, but they all engaged the demons, prepared to help defend the Water Plane.

xxx

On the ground, the young soldier behind Kuwabara's eyes widened, and he pointed a shaky finger. "Are those trees moving?"

Kuwabara squinted, and yes, the trees were moving. So were the all the plants. He would be the first to admit he wasn't a genius, but even he could guess who this was. "The Druid King." He beamed. True enough, the red-haired young man was approaching, slowly and calmly, but with incredible power. He entered the city, and more plants grew, some entwining themselves around demons, trapping them; others, more deadly, killing them with their poison.

And he wasn't alone. A group of fighters was also arriving with the Earth mage, including, to Kuwabara's surprise, a man wearing a bright yellow jacket, and blasting his opponents away with a stream of water that he was able to manipulate and make move. A Water mage.

Yusuke, still gasping in air, looked around, saw all the new arrivals, and laughed. "That's Kurama for you." He chuckled, shaking his head ruefully. "Me and Hiei, we charge right in like hotheads, but he takes the time to think things through and get reinforcements." For a moment, he paused to consider. "Though I didn't know he knew Jin and the others. Guess I shouldn't be surprised though. He knows everyone." He grinned. "We'd probably have lost without him."

"You'll lose anyway!" Yomi advanced again, and Yusuke quickly brought his arms up to dodge, his own red magic acting as a barrier. The fight was on.

xxx

xxx

 **A/N: here we go! Thanks to everyone who is sticking with this story, feel free to leave a review on the way out!**


	24. Invasion - Part 3

**Disclaimer: See previous.**

 **A/N: I just realised what I'd done there. Whoops. Sorry about that! Here's the actual Invasion Part 3. Enjoy!**

xxx

xxx

Kurama took out demons as he walked, rose whip slashing left and right, so that no one got close to him.

"I know you're here, Karasu. This time, I'm looking for you." He said out loud. An unnerving chuckle was his answer.

"Well, since you're looking…" His enemy appeared around the corner of a house, and Kurama scowled. Karasu clearly had a bandage around his chest, but he seemed well enough to fight.

"Let's finish this then."

xxx

The fights were escalating, and from her perch, Keiko could see it all. She saw Karasu's underhanded blow against Kurama that sent him staggering, but she knew there would be fire in his green eyes when he recovered. And she saw Hiei tear up another winged demon, sending it hurtling back towards the ground. The Fire mage apparently decided that the Air Warriors had the skies covered, because he dove towards the ground at a reckless speed. She watched him disappear into a cloud of shadows as he fell, and re-emerge already drawing his katana. She saw at once why he chose to attack in human form – there were too many civilians and Water soldiers to risk a Darkness Flame blast in dragon form. For a moment, she was grateful for his brief thoughtfulness. Then he vanished in a sea of people. She was able to follow his movements just by watching demons fall – and even she had to admit he was fast. For the first time, she was truly glad he was on their side now.

Yusuke growled. Even in his new form, he wasn't as good as Yomi. Slowly but surely he was pushed back, until finally a leg swipe at his knees knocked him to the ground. Yomi was about to deliver the final blow but he was stopped by Hiei, who darted in at the last second and aimed to cut off the demon's arm. His eyes widened, then, when his sword, though it stopped Yomi's arm, did not cut it off. Instead, Yomi laughed.

"I can use my demon magic as a shield to protect my skin." He explained to Hiei's surprised expression. He aimed a blast of magic at Hiei with his other hand, and Hiei, who only saw the beginning of the red glow and threw himself away, desperately tried to evade it, putting all his agility and speed to good use. The magic attack followed him – Hiei had to keep moving, even resorting to flipping overhead to put more distance between him and the beam that would kill him. Finally, he made a dash for the nearest building, disappearing around the corner just as the magic colliding with the stone wall. The explosion sent him reeling, but Yusuke was relieved to see him alive. Yomi seemed reluctantly intrigued.

"He _is_ fast, I'll give him that." He muttered, watching Hiei regain his bearings and turn in time to carelessly slaughter another demon. Then the Demon Lord turned back to his initial prey. "But not nearly as annoying as you."

"HEY!" It was Kuwabara, who came charging over. "You think _he's_ annoying? You haven't even met _me_ yet!"

Yusuke found the energy to face-palm.

xxx

Kurama tried to duck, but he wasn't fast enough. His fight with Karasu had been ongoing for too long, and he was tiring fast. He had taken too many hits already, and he was sure he had at least three broken ribs. Maybe more, he reflected, as a kick to his side probably cracked another one and sent a fiery pain rippling through him. And to his dismay, Karasu seemed largely unharmed. The best he had been able to do was tear deep gouges in Karasu's arms with his rose whip, but that was before he'd dropped it. And Karasu wasn't giving him time to make a new one. Also, there was a limit to how useful a whip was in close combat. Next thing he knew, Karasu's hand was around him throat, lifting him off the ground. With a panicked grunt, Kurama scrabbled at his hand, but to no avail. He saw Karasu's dark, malevolence-filled gaze, his awful leer, and as his vision started to gray, his heart started to race: there was no way he was letting _that_ be the last thing he ever saw. Time seemed to slow, and a hastily thrown together plan built up in his mind. Frantically, he reached out and dug his nails into the gouges on Karasu's arms. A pained scream was his reward, as well as being unceremoniously dropped to the ground. He gasped in air, trying to blink away the purple spots in front of his eyes, knowing he had bought a little time but not much, he pushed himself to his feet, swayed slightly but pushed on. Almost immediately, he was knocked back down by a fist to his face. He gasped, tried to move away, but his shirt was gripped by Karasu again.

"I've waited for this a long time, Kurama." Karasu hissed, almost in an affectionate way. Kurama met his horrible gaze.

"So have I."

He watched Karasu's expression twist in confusion, before he screamed and gripped his arms, dropping Kurama in the process. A plant was growing out of his skin. Kasrasu looked at it in horror, then dropped to the ground, screaming and wrapping his arms around his body. As he did so, the plant sprouted from his previously uninjured leg as well, green coated in red, causing more screams. Kurama pushed himself away and to his feet.

"I planted the seed when you were strangling me." He said quietly. "It's over, Karasu. Finally, I am free of you. Goodbye. We will not meet again." And he walked away from the screams of the dying man. As he moved, the screams slowly came to stop. He didn't look back. Instead, he looked towards where Kuwabara seemed to be trying to hold off Yomi. _Right, that can't end well._ He set off in that direction, one arm placed protectively around his broken ribs.

xxx

Yusuke had rolled away from the fight, insofar as it could be called such. He was trying to get his breath back, but it was easier said than done. It would be easier to catalogue the parts of his that didn't hurt. He shouted a warning to Kuwabara, but the Captain was saved from a magical death by a rose whip lashing out and wrapping around Yomi's wrist, yanking it back and making the blast fly off to the side. Yomi growled. Kuwabara blinked, and glanced at the approaching red-head.

"Thanks, Kurama." He called, frowning in concern as he took in the condition of the Earth mage. He looked beaten to hell, but he was still standing. That would have to do for now. Yomi looked at him and growled.

"And now there's another. What are you even doing here, Kurama? You never care about anyone but yourself."

Kurama stayed impassive, holding his rose whip at his side, ready for battle.

"Let's put the past behind us, shall we, Yomi?"

Yomi turned as soft footfalls alerted him to Hiei's return. The young Fire mage was bleeding from a gash on his temple, and the sleeve of his coat was clinging tightly to his arm, soaked in blood, but he seemed oblivious to these injuries. Yusuke grinned, and joined the circle surrounding his opponent.

"All together, gang?"

He laughed off Hiei's annoyed snort, Kurama's amused smile and Kuwabara's growl, and instead charged at Yomi. He felt more than saw the others follow his lead.

Fighting in a group was harder than fighting alone in some ways – it was all too easy to get in someone's way, to limit your teammates' movements and overall do more harm than good. But Yusuke quickly realised that his group worked too well together for this to be a problem. They meshed effortlessly, easily covering each other's' attacks, making up for gaps in defences, moving into empty space to deny Yomi and ground.

It couldn't last, though – Yomi was tiring, but not fast enough. Kuwabara was the first to fall back, clutching an injured leg, and dragging himself away from the fight. After a quick survey he decided his knee ligaments were torn up. It would heal, but standing was going to be hard, not to even think of fighting. Reluctantly, he withdrew to a slightly safer distance. There weren't many demons around them, and the ones that were there were engaged in combat with Water soldiers. He could stay and see how this played out. Next was Kurama, after a strong kick to the torso, screamed and went flying. He hit the ground hard a few meters away from Kuwabara, face contorted in pain. If the Captain had to guess, he would say broken ribs. There was no way Kurama was getting back in the fight.

Now that there were only two of them, Hiei had lit up his katana with the Darkness Flame, turning it into a far deadlier weapon. It was a calculated risk, as he had to be careful to avoid hurting Yusuke, but it increased the strength of his attacks dramatically. Yusuke and Hiei tag-teamed Yomi, Yusuke even managing to plant a boot in the Demon Lord's back, sending him off balance for a step, enough for Hiei to slash at his neck. Yomi's reflexes were fast enough to allow him to block with his forearms, but Hiei was able, using his Darkness Flame, to cancel out Yomi's demon magic and to draw a cut across the Demon Lord's forearms. It wasn't deep, but the mere fact that he'd drawn blood caused fury to rise in Yomi's expression. Hiei barely had time to brace himself before he was blown away by a burst of red magic, his Sword of the Darkness Flame his only defence in holding off the deadly force. Hiei was pushed back several meters, and felt the magic tearing at his clothes, ripping his coat. Finally, he was thrown off his feet, and tumbled through the air until he hit a pile of rubble. He coughed as he tried to get up, but Yomi flashed over and slammed an elbow into his temple. Kuwabara winced from the sound it made alone. Hiei dropped back down. Yomi was distracted from killing the Fire mage by a beam of Yusuke's own demon magic hitting him from behind, sending him stumbling. He turned back to Yusuke, who grinned.

"Looks like it's you and me again, buddy." He said with a smirk. "Let's get back to it, shall we?"

Yomi glared before laughing. To Yusuke, it sounded a little forced. "If you and you friends couldn't defeat me, what makes you think you alone could?" Yusuke just shrugged.

"Want to find out?"

Yomi grit his teeth. This one had the innate ability to get on his last nerve without even trying. That was swiftly becoming the main reason he was killing him first. So he turned away from the smaller fry, and got back to the battle that mattered.

xxx

Kuwabara struggled to his feet, trying his hardest to keep his weight off his bad leg. Looking around, it seemed to him that they may be sort of winning against the demon army.

"Sir!" A Guardsman yelled, running over. He blanched at the sight of the warriors, but continued on. "A lot of the demons are scattering, sir – heading towards the neighbouring villages."

Kuwabara cursed. He couldn't let the peasants who lived near the city be targeted – they needed to stop the demons, _now._ "We can't let them escape." He said out loud. The soldier's expression turned panicky.

"We're doing all we can, sir, but we're spread too thin, we'd lose too many men!"

"I know!" Kuwabara said, just barely stopping himself from yelling. It wasn't, after all, this kid's fault. Next to him, he realised Hiei had made his way over.

"I'll handle it." The Fire mage said gruffly. Kuwabara's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh yeah? How are you gonna single-handedly wipe out the rest of the demon army?"

Hiei's deadpan gaze swung to Kuwabara, and the taller man chuckled nervously. "Oh right… dragon."

Hiei rolled his eyes. "I can't do anything here." He said, sending one last glare Yomi's way. "I'm… not at one hundred percent. But my dragon form is still mostly uninjured. Killing those weaklings won't even be a challenge." A wicked smirk. "It will be fun though."

Kuwabara sweat-dropped, held in a comment about Hiei's anti-social and just plain _psychotic_ tendencies, and frowned.

"If you're injured, isn't it dangerous to change form?" He asked instead. Hiei shot a dark glare a little to Kuwabara's right, but when he looked there was no one there.

"I'll be fine. I know what I'm doing." Hiei snapped.

"Are you seeing double?" Asked Kurama, who had carefully made his way over to their little group. Hiei looked at him blankly, but if the ever so slight flicker of his eyes to the right of Kurama as though he could see several Kuramas and wasn't quite sure which one was the real one was anything to go by, then the answer was _yes_ , a very definite yes.

Hiei huffed. "No." He snapped, before retreating into his shadows. Kurama sighed, a long suffering sigh that was far too used to Hiei by now to be surprised, but still cared enough to be exasperated.

Moments later it was the dragon that was taking off into the sky, setting off towards the city limits. Kurama heaved himself to his feet with a wince. "I should go too. I can help with the injured."

Kuwabara shot him a dubious look. " _You're_ injured." He pointed out. Kurama nodded, with a slight upward curve to his lips.

"Yes, but I'll be fine. I can't do anything to help here either." He said, nodding at the fight. Yusuke was, surprisingly, holding his own for now. After a moment, Kuwabara nodded, though it occurred to him later that Kurama did not require his permission. Finally, he decided he would go and fight the remaining demons – at least, the ones Hiei hadn't taken care of. The dragon had vanished – probably chasing after fleeing demons. Kuwabara was happy enough with that. He limped away, ignoring the pain. He drew his sword – he may not be able to walk properly, but damned if he couldn't still find a way to fight. And as for Yomi, he would just have to follow the others' example – and trust Yusuke.

xxx

Yusuke and Yomi faced off again. This time, to Yusuke's delight, they were both breathing hard. Yomi seemed to sense his look of triumph and scowled.

"This is not a victory for you, you fool." He growled. Yusuke sent him a tired smirk.

"Aw, don't be sore, man." He mocked. Yomi tilted his head slightly.

"Your control has improved." He said suddenly. Yusuke shrugged. It was true – he felt more like himself even in his demonic form. But he had more important things to think about. "Yomi," he said, finally serious, "I can't let you win this. Please, just leave. I don't want to have to kill you."

Yomi didn't laugh. He considered the offer for what it was – and it was certainly not a joke. "I can't just leave." He finally said. "I deserve a realm of my own – and your father stole mine. Which makes _this,_ " he gestured between them, "all the more poetic. Raizen's son, the only thing standing in my way. But more importantly, Demon Prince, I believe that matter what you think, you _can't_ win against me. So my leaving would be a serious mistake on my part."

Yusuke's eyes narrowed. "You're wrong." He said forcefully. "You'll lose, and I'll kill you, and I don't want that. Please, I don't want to kill you."

Yomi raised a hand in a 'what can you do?' gesture. "What you want isn't my concern. And as I said, it's irrelevant anyway. You're about to die." A ball of red energy started to build in his open hand. "What say we finish this?"

Yusuke nodded, raising his own hands, palms facing Yomi. "Let's." He said, creating his own magic attack. As both grew, he noticed a slight change in the colour of his magic. He gasped. It had looked like purple. He frowned in concentration, trying to bring up his Spirit magic, but it was out of reach, as it always was when he was in demon form. Except for – there! A link to his human side, his human thoughts and feelings. A link that could give him an edge over the Demon Lord.

The link was Keiko. He couldn't even be surprised, of course it was Keiko. Her face, the way she looked when she laughed, her stubborn determination to follow him, even as he followed her. The look of indignation and annoyance when he mocked her. The soft look she sometimes got when she looked at him. The feeling of her lips on his.

"It… It's not possible!" Yomi screeched, as clear blue emerged from the red, wrapping around it, _bolstering it,_ and Yusuke changed his stance, so he had one palm facing outwards, and one hand imitating the form of a gun. He flashed Yomi a smirk.

"SPIRIT GUN!" He yelled, as he fired both attacks, red shooting forwards in tandem with the blue beam, both halves of his nature finally working together. Yomi fired his attack as well, but his demon magic wasn't strong enough to defeat both spirit and demon magic working in unison. Yusuke's magic bowled past the obstacle, crashing into Yomi who screamed, even as he was blown back in a brilliant blaze of light. Yusuke looked away, shielding his eyes, and when the light finally died away, Yomi was down. Yusuke stepped forwards slowly, coming to kneel next to Yomi. The Demon Lord raised his head slightly.

"Guess… I was… wrong." He gasped. And Yusuke nodded, not without sympathy. The markings on his skin faded away, leaving normal Yusuke behind again.

"Yeah. You fought well though." He said. Yomi huffed what could have been a laugh, had he not coughed up blood at the same time. His blank gaze met Yusuke's one last time, before his eyes closed. Yusuke stayed where he was for a few more minutes. They had won. They had all won. He looked around at the destroyed town, the dead, human and demon alike, and sighed. Buildings had fallen, there were fires – there was a child screaming somewhere. But there were no demons in sight anymore. They had won.

For a while, Yusuke could only sit there. He wasn't really aware of time passing; it could have seconds or hours, he wouldn't know. Finally he got up – he wanted to go and crash somewhere, but he couldn't, not yet. He still had a job to do. He resolutely started towards the Palace, turning away from the huge crater his last attack had made, from Yomi. He turned, and his eyes met Keiko's from where she was standing on the steps of the Palace. She was behind her father, looking awed but scared. He was unaware of the crowd gathering, of Yomi's body being moved by pale-faced guards. He only had eyes for her. For a moment, he tried to picture life without her – he would end up protecting her from afar, just like Hiei did whoever it was he cared about, coming back to check on her sometimes, just to make sure she was still alive. He would always be looking back.

Unless he _fixed_ everything right here, right now.

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 **A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited and/or followed, you guys are great!**


	25. Invasion - Part 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.**

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"Keiko," he said, meeting her gaze. Then he hesitated, realising that maybe he should have thought this out slightly more. Luckily, she stepped in.

"You saved the kingdom." She said, looking around with mixed feelings in her eyes. "This devastation would be infinitely worse had you not stopped Yomi."

"Well, I had help." Yusuke grinned. Then he sobered. "It was the least I could do, really." He added quietly. "Look, Keiko, I'm sorry I never told you about the half demon thing. It's not something I like talking about." For a moment Keiko thought he would point out that if it hadn't been for his demon side, they would all be dead, but he didn't. He just went on. "I'm sorry about a lot of things, actually. But I never lied-"

"You certainly left some key details out!" Keiko interrupted. Yusuke grimaced.

"Yeah, one or two. But only 'cause I didn't want you to run screaming."

Keiko bit back an angry retort at that, because however insulting he unintentionally made it sound, well, it was sort of true, wasn't it? All she had seen were foreign markings, red magic and a look in his eyes that didn't belong there, and she had gotten the hell out of dodge.

"I was upset because I felt betrayed and misled." She said instead. "and because… the way you attacked Toguro…" _You scared me._ She didn't say it, but from the look on his face he heard it anyway.

He nodded. "That's what I'm sorry about. But Keiko, everything I said or did or… or _felt,_ I never lied about that. I meant all of it."

Keiko would be lying if she said there wasn't a swelling feeling in her chest, like she was about to take off into the air. And damn him for being so entirely easy to love that she just couldn't help herself.

"Will you marry me?" He suddenly blurted. The words took Keiko by surprise, and she found herself blushing.

"You… _what?_ " She stuttered. Yusuke looked surprisingly at ease, considering. He kept his eyes on hers, and repeated.

"Will you marry me?"

Keiko found herself stammering awkwardly, and had to cut herself off before she embarrassed herself and the royal name too much. But he had just _proposed,_ right here in front of everyone, including her _father,_ and she wasn't quite sure what to do about that.

"That is the strangest way of getting a girl to forgive you!" She finally exclaimed hotly. Yusuke flashed her a smirk.

"Worked, didn't it?" And she was seriously considering marching down those steps, right past her father and _slapping the bastard,_ when he continued. "Seriously though, I do love you. Will you marry me?"

And then she was back where she started. With an infuriating yet somehow amazing boy that despite herself, despite _everything,_ she had fallen in love with a long time ago. She sighed, acknowledging that she had lost this fight. But then, she was up against Yusuke, and when did he ever lose? A smile slowly lit up her face, and she nodded.

"Yes. Yes, I'll marry you!" With that, she flew down the steps, and leapt into his arms. He spun her around, grinning like an idiot, and the assembled crowd cheered. The celebration was cut short by and angry cough from the king himself.

"I must object," the man, expression a mix of anger and perhaps distaste. It was hard to tell. "No man may marry my daughter unless he has completed the trial I set out - the King's Quest. Therefore, I must tell you that you _will not_ marry my daughter."

Yusuke's heart dropped, as did Keiko's. He slowly released her, and turned a puzzled face to the king. "But-"

"There will be no argument. My word is final." The King declared, drawing himself up. Yusuke blinked, having forgotten about the quest. Keiko looked from him to her father, and blurted the only thing she could think of.

"But he has completed it."

Yusuke's gaze flew to his face sharply. "I have?" He whispered. Keiko nodded.

"Well, _we_ did, actually. Together. We completed it."

The King looked suspicious, as Keiko subtly passed Yusuke her leather pouch behind her back. Yusuke's face lit up with understanding to an almost comical degree, and Keiko was reminded that he was a person who fought things head on, and had little need for subtlety and deception.

"Yep, and I have all the items right here in this pouch! This one, right here." Yusuke said, waving it in the air as proof of his possession of it. The handmaiden he had seen with Keiko earlier drew in a sharp breath when she saw it, but she didn't rat them out.

"For starters, I have here," Yusuke started, opening the leather pouch, "a mermaid's scale. He handed it to the King. "An Icarus bird's golden feather – watch that, it's really sharp – and some lava from the hottest volcano in the Fire Plane." He handed the items over, one by one. "And here," he reached back and yanked a strand of his own long, wild mane, "a hair from a demon lord."

The king arched an eyebrow. "Do you count?" He asked sternly. Yusuke nodded.

"I'm the Demon Prince. You don't get more lordly than me. Well, except my father."

After a tense moment, the King nodded. Yusuke rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"Well, now-"

He was interrupted by the shuffling in the now assembled crowd. Parting the people, was Kurama, walking serenely towards them. As he stepped on the ground, grass and flowers grew underneath his feet, green appearing around him, reacting to his restoring magic. And dancing elegantly at his side, the outline of a fox with five tails, following after its companion.

Kurama reached the assembled Party, and smiled. "Yusuke, I believe you left this with me for safekeeping." He said, a meaningful glance sent over the flower he handed over to Yusuke. Keiko gasped as she saw it. It was a beautiful flower, well worthy of the King's Quest. Yusuke grinned at the Earth mage.

"Uh, yeah, thanks for returning it, Kurama" He turned and handed over the flower.

"That's five out of six." He said. Then he exchanged a glance with Keiko, took a deep breath, and faced the King.

"As for the Ice Crystal – "

"Ice Crystals mean a lot to Ice Maidens. It shows far more valuable character traits to have returned without one." Keiko interrupted firmly. "It took great compassion, and kindness – things more important to me than brutality and – and cruelty!"

Her father looked momentarily surprised, before his face hardened. "Nonetheless, I will not-"

His damning words were interrupted by a scream, followed by the now familiar sound of the air ripping. More panicked screams and shouts, followed, and even the King gasped and took a step back.

"No! It's okay!" Yusuke yelled. "He's on our side!"

Some fled, but most just backed up, unwilling to miss the show of the century, and only preparing to flee at the sight of the great black dragon. Yusuke's words did little to comfort them, even less as Hiei suddenly dove towards the space created by the crowd. As he drew nearer to the ground, he pulled in the darkness around him, scaring away some more spectators. Yusuke grinned. At around thirty feet, the shadows were blown away, revealing Hiei falling, scabbard clutched in one hand, face calm and composed, black coat whipping around him, not unlike his wings. He hit the ground hard, conveniently in the crater Yusuke's attack had made and dropped to a crouch to absorb the shock. After a beat that allowed his coat to settle around him, he rose, ignoring the shocked and terrified looks all around him, and strode towards Yusuke.

"Is that bastard dead?" He snapped. Yusuke gave an easy grin.

"Yeah, he is. That was one hell of an entrance, you little show off." He teased. Hiei's lips drew into a snarl, and his hand tightened on his katana. Before he could say anything though, Yusuke cut him off.

"Before you start, I'm sort of in the middle of something here. Can it wait?"

Hiei's red eyes moved between Yusuke, Keiko and the King, before he huffed and turned away.

"By all means, I would hate to interrupt." He sniped sarcastically. The King cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, if you do not have an Ice Crystal, you have not completed the quest. And you cannot marry my daughter."

Yusuke waved his hands in frustration. "Look Your Majesty, you don't get it. The Ice Maidens _treasure_ their crystals. I couldn't just take one!"

They argued for a while, with Yusuke and Keiko explaining why bringing back an ice crystal had been impossible, and the king refuting their arguments with cold looks and immovable refusals. Yusuke was about to say something he would probably regret, but he was interrupted by a growl at his side, and he turned back to see Hiei with his eyes closed, seemingly debating with himself. Then with a snarl, Hiei's hand went to a chain around his neck that Yusuke hadn't noticed before, that he tugged over his head.

"Here." He all but spat, holding out what was revealed to be an unmistakeable Ice Crystal.

"YOU!" A bellow sounded from off to the side, and Kuwabara appeared, furious. He rushed forwards, knee forgotten, and grabbed Hiei by the collar, lifting him a good few feet off the floor. "Where did you get that? Who did you kill to get hands on it? _Where's Yukina?"_

"Kuwabara, stop!" Yusuke yelled, taking an urgent step forward. "Put him down!"

Kuwabara hesitated, glaring into Hiei's angry red eyes, but eventually trusting his friend's judgment, lowering the shapeshifter. Yusuke turned to focus on Hiei, who was straightening his coat.

"You're Yukina's brother, aren't you?"

Everyone froze, including Hiei. Then the shrill sound of cold steel rang out, and one flurry of black later, Hiei's katana was pressed against Yusuke's throat, red eyes glaring furiously – and perhaps with a hint of fear – at Yusuke.

"She can never know!" He hissed, causing gasps behind him. "If I find out she found out I will track you down and murder you." He stepped back and gestured with the sword to encompass the whole group. "All of you!" Then he resumed a threatening stance directed at Yusuke.

"Okay, okay! We promise we won't tell her! Right, guys?" Yusuke said, motioning at the others. A chorus of hesitant affirmatives replied, so Hiei lowered the weapon and after a moment, sheathed it and hung it back on his side. Yusuke watched his slightly less graceful movements than usual, and spoke up.

"That explains a lot, actually. I thought after our first battle that maybe you were half demon, like me. But I've never heard of a half demon being able to do something like turn into a dragon. But, if an inhuman Ice Maiden fell in love with a powerful Fire mage, the result would be…"

He trailed off. Hiei gave a put-upon sigh, and finished for him.

"Something unheard of, totally unpredictable and unknown. Something terrible."

Yusuke narrowed his eyes shrewdly, and tried to imagine being something like that, a totally unique being, hated and feared by your own people because of the very nature of your existence – being called cursed for something you had no control over, no choice. Being something dangerous and scary and yet very, _very_ cool.

"Oh come on! Your curse is the ability to change into a fire breathing dragon! Best. Curse. Ever!" He exclaimed. Hiei turned visibly surprised eyes on him. Yusuke gestured wildly with his arms. "I mean, I get how your whole situation sucks, but still, silver lining, buddy!"

Hiei blinked. Then opened his mouth to say something, before shutting it again. He seemed to draw a total blank, and shook his head slightly. Kuwabara cleared his throat.

"Uh, you're Yukina's brother?" He said. Hiei rolled his eyes. Before he could say anything mean, though, Kuwabara went on. "Only, Yukina said that everyone thought her brother died."

Hiei sighed. "I was thrown off a mountain, so that's hardly surprising. " He muttered. Upon seeing the curious looks around him, he went on. "I was found by a man from a human settlement. I lived there for a few years, but when I was a child I first discovered my ability to change form." He explained.

Yusuke winced. "Oh, cute kid to baby dragon. That might freak them out."

Hiei nodded. "It was bad enough once they figured out I was a Fire mage. The shapeshifting was the last straw. They knew I was dangerous. So they sent me through the Portal."

"The one to the Fire Plane, or the Air Plane?"

"The Fire Plane. The idea was that I would die in the Plane I belong in." Hiei spat. Keiko shrank back at the venom in his voice. "What they didn't know is that there _is_ a path that leads out of the volcano, but it goes up through the roof of that cavern." He explained. Yusuke nodded slowly.

"In other words, you'd need wings to find it. That's why you're the one of the only ones to return from the Ice Plain. You can _fly._ In the Air Plane, all you'd have to do when you found yourself free falling is shift forms, and fly off. We survived by sheer dumb luck." The last part was said in a grumble.

"Dumb sounds about right." Hiei muttered, causing Yusuke to shoot him a glare. Then the Spirit mage spoke.

"Alright, so I got one for you. What were you doing down in that cave? Just lurking?" He asked mockingly.

"I was going to head to the Ice Plane the next day. You just had bad timing." Hiei huffed. Yusuke's expression didn't waver.

"What, so you just go back and visit? Why? I thought you said no one there liked y–" He broke off, and realization dawned on his face. "Wait, do you go to check on Yukina? You're like this shadow watching over her, aren't you." He said, more a statement than a question. Hiei's scowl was enough to tell him he was right. "Man, you must have been pissed off when you found out she'd been captured. I mean, if I'd been you I'd–" He stopped again, and his eyes grew wide. "Holy crap, it was you, wasn't it? You slaughtered those mercs!"

Hiei glared, but didn't deny it. Kuwabara stared, remembering the carnage. "Shit." He said simply. Hiei's scowl grew more pronounced.

"That's why you can never tell Yukina." He said. "She's… not like me. The Ice Maidens may be cold and dead inside, just waiting for their bodies to catch up, but Yukina's not. She's…" Hiei trailed off, so Kuwabara took over.

"Sweet? Gentle? Kind? Warm? Compassionate?" He suggested. He stopped when Hiei's hand fell onto the hilt of his katana.

"I'm a murderer and a mercenary. She does not need me in her life." The Fire mage finished. Kurama frowned slightly.

"She would be happier knowing that her brother is alive and well. And _cares_ about her." He said pointedly. A scathing glare was the only reply he got, so he raised his hands in surrender.

"So you followed us through the Portal? Just on the off-chance that we might harm Yukina?" Yusuke asked, remembering Hiei's harsh words in the Fire Plane. "And you came with us later to find out more about us?"

"If you were going to be in her life, I wanted to know what you were capable of." Hiei said. Yusuke tried to process that. It meant that Hiei had thrown himself into an unknown situation on the slim chance that Yusuke and his friends were going to harm the Ice Maidens, and on the even slimmer chance that out of all the Ice Maidens there, they were going to go after Yukina. And then, once they befriended Yukina, he had joined them just to try and figure out if one day, they would be dangers to Yukina once more.

He glanced at Kurama, who looked totally unsurprised. He must have known all about Yukina already, Yusuke guessed. Which meant he had known what he was talking about when he had said that Hiei would want to join the quest.

"I can't decide if you're the world's best or worst older brother." He muttered, brow furrowing.

Hiei glared, thoroughly unimpressed, before nodding in direction of the crystal, which Yusuke was still holding.

"I expect that back one day, by the way. It's a loan, not a gift." He growled, but Yusuke was getting to know him well enough to detect the slight unhappiness in his tone.

"Hiei…" Yusuke hesitated. "We didn't let Yukina give us her Ice Crystal. We can't accept yours either." Yusuke said at length. Hiei snorted.

"Don't be stupid. It's sentimental garbage. I've had it for too long anyway. Just take it, you utter fool." He snapped. Yusuke raised an eyebrow.

"Take it on loan, you mean?" He asked. Hiei's face twisted.

"Yes. On loan." He said in a low voice. Yusuke laughed slightly.

"Thank you, Hiei. It means a lot." He said sincerely. Hiei just snorted and turned away. Keiko smiled slightly.

"I promise to return it." She said quietly. Hiei nodded shortly. Yusuke moved over to the King, who had been watching their conversation with interest.

"I present to you, Your Majesty, the last item needed to complete the King's Quest. An Ice Crystal."

The king took the crystal, and turned reluctantly impressed eyes on Yusuke. Yusuke grinned cockily. The King sighed, and turned to his daughter.

"Keiko, are you sure you want to marry him?" He asked gently. Keiko nodded.

"Yes, father. I love him." She said simply. And somehow, for some reason, it was true. Yusuke grinned like an idiot. The king sighed, before nodding.

"So be it, then. I give my blessing for Yusuke, Prince of the Demon realm, completer of the King's quest, to marry my daughter, Princess Keiko of the Water Plane."

Keiko smiled, and turned to Yusuke. Her smile faltered.

"Where are we going to go? You're on the run in the Spirit Plane?" She asked anxiously.

"I'll go back to the Demon Court. My father needs me to return one day since I'm his only heir, and once I'm officially back the Spirit Court won't be able to touch me. No one wants war." He said. Keiko bit her lip.

"Yusuke… Demons are…" She trailed off, and gestured around them, at the rubble and the injured and the corpses of demons and humans alike. Yusuke winced.

"Yeah, I know your opinion on demons can't be… _favourable_ just now. But these demons, these are the ones that followed Yomi. My father isn't that bad. Besides, we can change them, Keiko. Together. We'll change the Demon Plane."

Keiko raised her eyebrows. "The Demon Plane?"

Yusuke shrugged. "That's what the demons call it."

"What if this doesn't work?" She asked softly. "What if I can't stand living there? What if we stop loving each other one day? What if-"

"Keiko," Yusuke laughed. "We'll figure it out. One day at a time, with trial and error. There are a ton of Portals in my Plane, so you'll never be stuck anywhere."

She smiled at that. But he wasn't done.

"And also, me stop loving you? Don't make me laugh." He said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "I love you. That's not gonna change. So get used to it, Your Majesty."

Keiko grinned despite herself, and they kissed, on the steps of the Palace, to the cheering and whooping of the crowd. And this time, nothing went horribly wrong.

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 **A/N: My apologies for the delay in posting this. Anyway, it seems that I miscalculated slightly the amount of chapters it would take to end this story, so there is in fact one more to come. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed!**


	26. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: For the last time, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.**

 **A/N: Here it is, the final chapter of the King's Quest. Enjoy!**

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In the court of the Water King, the monarch stared unreadably at Kuwabara, who was standing in front of the throne, eyes lowered, and despite his composed appearance, still somehow radiating nervousness. Keiko stood behind her father, eyeing him worriedly. The rest of the gang were in the assembled gathering that was watching the proceedings, although the Air Folk and the other fighters that had come with Kurama had all vanished, unwilling to remain. One had muttered something about arrest warrants before he vanished.

It was a few days after the battle, and everyone was somewhat recovered, though Kurama still gingerly supported his ribs, and Hiei had a bandage wrapped around his arm. Yusuke and Kurama were both watching the king, with a mixture of concern and anticipation on their faces, while Hiei just looked uncaring. With the exception of Hiei, everyone waited with baited breath for the King's decision.

"Kuwabara," he finally spoke, "in light of you heroism, bravery, and commendable quick thinking and strategy that led to the salvation of our royal city, I hereby clear your name of all charges made against it, and reinstate you as Captain of the Guard."

With a relieved sigh, Kuwabara saluted the king, and then Keiko started clapping, and Yusuke whooped, and suddenly everyone was loudly showing their approval of the Captain's return (again, except for Hiei). Kuwabara blushed, and waved awkwardly at his friends. Hiei, Kurama and Yusuke then came forward.

"The Water Plane owes you warriors a great debt." The King said, gaze moving from one to the other. "You are the heroes who saved our city. Therefore, I offer you a reward." He waved casually, and three servants came forward, each carrying a healthily sized bag of gold. Yusuke grinned, but shook his head.

"Thanks, Your Majesty, but we didn't do it for the-"

"Thank you Your Majesty, this is most kind."

"About time."

Yusuke gaped at his two friends, who were already moving forward to accept the money.

"You guys! He yelled, outraged. "What the hell? Don't you know we're supposed to be the good guys?"

Hiei blinked. "The good guys? Don't insult me." He said scathingly. Kurama gave a small shrug too.

"I may have stopped stealing, but I still like gold." He pointed out.

"But – you – argh!" Yusuke gave up, throwing his hands into the air, "Well, _I_ refuse, Your Majesty. I already received the greatest treasure you could offer me anyway." He said, glancing in Keiko's direction. She reddened slightly, but her lips curved upwards. The King seemed slightly pleased, and nodded.

"In that case, we have no more business to conclude here today. You are dismissed."

Once everyone had filed out, they assembled in a small group. Keiko pulled Kuwabara into a hug.

"Congratulations, Captain." She said with a smile.

"Thank you, Princess." He replied, blushing slightly. Then Keiko glanced at his leg, which was splinted and heavily bandaged.

"How is it?" She asked, concern leaking into her voice. Kuwabara sighed.

"I'll live, but it may never completely heal. I did too much on it after I injured it." He admitted. He was upset about that, to say the least. He didn't like the idea of living with a limp for the rest of his life, even though he knew he was lucky to be alive at all. And there was always a chance he would make a full recovery, he supposed.

Yusuke tilted his head, eyes sparking mischievously. "You know, there _is_ someone we know who can heal _anything._ You _could_ go out to the Spirit Plane and visit her. I'm sure the King would give you a few days off to make the trip." He laughed at the way Kuwabara's eyes lit up at the thought, and ignored the ominous way Hiei tensed at his back, albeit with some difficulty. Kuwabara nodded thoughtfully.

"I… I guess I could. I mean, I want to keep my job. And it would be nice to keep in touch." He turned to Kurama, who was trying to guess how much gold he'd been given from the weight of the bag. "How long are you staying?"

"Not long, I'm afraid." Kurama said, smiling sadly. "I still have work to do in the Earth Plane. But be sure, I will return and visit." He said, clasping Kuwabara's wrist. He then turned to Hiei.

"And yourself, Hiei? Back to being a wandering mercenary, making your fortune as you go?" He asked. Hiei didn't answer for a moment.

"Hm. Maybe. Maybe not, this time. Maybe not anymore." He finally answered. Kurama raised his eyebrows, but knew better than to push. Instead, his expression grew serious.

"I should warn you, Hiei, that Yukina doesn't believe you perished in that fall." He said quietly. Hiei's head shot around.

"I was thrown off a mountain into the snow! How does she think I could have survived _that?_ " Hiei snapped, with nothing but anger in his tone but a spark of worry in his eyes. Yusuke shrugged.

"She feels it, man. She just knows. Maybe it's a twin thing."

Hiei's countenance grew so dark that Yusuke considered taking a step back. But because he was _Yusuke,_ he just offered a devil-may-care grin instead. Hiei growled.

"She will look for you." Kurama said softly. Hiei's shoulders rose a fraction.

"She will never find me." Then he shook himself slightly, and moved away.

"I have to go. Goodbye, Kurama, Yusuke." And then he strode away. He stopped, just for a moment, and looked over his shoulder, so that only his profile was visible. "And Kuwabara," He said, surprising the Captain, who hadn't been expecting to be addressed. "I will be watching over my sister. If you hurt her, I will make your death a horrible one." And then he was gone.

"Oh." Kuwabara said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, that wasn't scary at all."

Kurama chuckled. "Well, at least he's giving you a chance. That's more than he's ever done before."

"Huh." Kuwabara said thoughtfully. "How come, though?"

Kurama smiled softly. "For all the darkness he exudes, Hiei would willingly put himself through hell if it meant his sister would be safe and happy. In fact, you could argue he already has." He said, staring in the direction the mage had vanished in. "Perhaps he senses that you would do the same."

There was nothing Kuwabara could say to that, so he settled for staring as well, an expression of awe stealing across his features. "Oh."

Yusuke clapped his handed together. "So, Hiei's bailed as quickly as he could, but I'm sure he'll be back one day, Kurama's sticking around for a bit before heading home, Kuwabara might one day have a chance with Yukina, except for the fact that he's an ugly bastard, and I got the girl. Sounds like everything ends happily."

"I love a happy ending." Keiko said, ignoring Kuwabara's spluttering as he pulled Yusuke away from her to sock him in the jaw.

"Me too." Kurama said, smiling.

xxx

 _A few days later…_

xxx

Hiei wiped the rain out of his eyes yet again. It had been heaving it down for a while, and to Hiei's annoyance, he had been walking in it for a good few hours. But he knew where he was going. Much to his dismay, returning to his life of paid crime and solitude was not as appealing as it had once been. Of course, he still hated people. Sure, Kurama was okay, but he had his own, goody two shoes thing going on. And Yusuke was tolerable, but he was a prince and just wanted to marry the love of his life. Kuwabara was insufferable, but even Hiei would admit that he wasn't _evil._ Not like Hiei himself. So Hiei knew that _that_ group had to go. But maybe he wasn't quite ready to go back to his old life yet. Maybe he would take someone up on a very old offer, one that he had long turned since turned down.

Finally, he saw the building. It stood about a mile outside the city. Built originally as an inn, it had since been adapted, altered, added to, destroyed, built back up, set on fire, restored, improved, and now was a somewhat shabby, very oddly shaped and quite large construction. It was also avoided by most people who knew what it was. And _everyone_ knew what it was. The people around made sure you did, lest you accidentally wandered in, and got hurt.

Hiei walked up to the door, and stepped in.

The room, filled with what seemed to be unsavoury characters, fell silent. Hiei flipped his coat flaps, under the pretext of shaking the water off, and really to make sure they knew he was armed, and conversations started up again cautiously. It said a lot about the occupants of the buildings that seeing that Hiei had a weapon reassured them somewhat. Hiei stalked up to the bar, where the bartender glared down at him.

"If it isn't the Flying Shadow." He said, using Hiei's outlaw name, and earning more silence, stares and whispers from the people around them, as they found out who Hiei was. Hiei ignored them.

"I'm here to see Muruko." He said, meeting the bartender's glare head on. After a moment, the taller man huffed and looked away from Hiei's blood-red gaze.

"She's through in other room." He growled. As Hiei turned to leave, he spoke up again. "She might not want to see you."

Hiei snorted. "We'll see."

He made his way to the room where the mercenary leader was sitting, and entered silently. She still heard him.

"Hiei." She said, turning her bandaged face to face him. "It has been a long time."

"It has." Hiei replied evenly. Muruko stared silently at him. Hiei sighed internally as he realised he was going to have to ask. "I'm here about the job you offered me."

"Hm," she said thoughtfully. "When I asked if you wanted to join my Mercenaries' Guild? That was a long time ago."

This time Hiei was silent. It was her turn. After a moment, she continued. "The jobs are on the noticeboard. If I have anything special for you, the bartender will let you know."

Hiei met her gaze again, and for once felt that he was the one being analysed. It was annoying, but also strangely refreshing. Then she turned away, and the chains around her wrists jingled quietly. Hiei left, a small smirk pulling at his lips. He went back into the bar, ordered a drink and sat down, satisfied with his ending, at least for now.

xxx

Kurama opened the door quietly and peered in. "Mother? Mother, are you home?"

"My dear boy!" A female voice answered, as a pretty, dark haired woman came bustling around the corner, beaming happily. "You came to visit!"

Kurama smiled warmly, and stepped inside, immediately drawn into a hug by his mother.

"It's good to see you." He said honestly. "You wouldn't believe the adventure I've been on."

His mother tutted. "I do wish you'd tell me what it is you do. I worry about you, you know." She said, concern bleeding into her voice. Kurama smiled, eyes gaining a faraway look for a moment.

"You know, mother, this one I can tell you about."

Her eyes lit up. "Really? Oh my! Oh, let me get the tea first, then you can tell me all about it."

So they wound up sitting quietly, his mother watching him attentively. With another soft smile, Kurama began.

"Well, though I wasn't there at the beginning, this is what happened. It all began when a brave princess, along with her trusted Captain, set off on a dangerous quest. They soon met a mysterious young man, named Yusuke, and that is where the story truly gets underway…"

xxx

xxx

 **A/N: There it is, the conclusion to The King's Quest. Thank you to everyone who kept with it until the end, especially those who left kind reviews! It really means a lot. Thanks also to everyone who followed/favourited! I hope everyone enjoyed!**


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